getting (un)comfortable

“I do hope the accommodations are to your, mmmm, satisfaction, my Lady.”

The penguin butler, Lord Preminger personally escorted Miss de Sade to her luxury tower suite on top of Ludo Manor.

It was a magnificent apartment. And one could not be faulted for assuming this would be the master suite for other seasons.

Aside from a huge bedroom and lounge area, the suite also comes with a private bathroom and massive balcony, that allows one to take in the full scope of the mansion. Of particular mention would be the various golden penguin statues that gave the room just that extra bit of class.

De Sade however gave her luxurious suite merely a cursory glance. “It must suffice. Now, I will have to place an order for my date tomorrow.”

“Ah, my deepest apologies, my Lady. Contestants are not allowed to purchase items before…”

A glare from the teacher caused the butler to bow. “...but of course, for you, Madame, we are honored to make an exception.”

A curt nod followed. “Good, now cut the feed already, will you?”

BZZZT!

…

..

.

“We’re bunking together, big sis! Yay!”

Kikki beamed as she looked at Shizuka, the later still sporting her permanent blush.

After getting ushered through what could only be described as the Backrooms but with more penguins, the girls found themselves getting split up in groups and escorted to their lodgings.

The room they ended up with looked fairly bog standard. About what you would expect from a 3 star hotel room with poor taste in decorations. You certainly could end up with worse accommodations.

“Uh, the room even comes with a private bathroom! But I already brushed my teeth earlier, so I won’t have to! Hehe!”

“You gonna keep this up the entire time?”, Shizuka asked as she inspected the window and nodded pleased that she could open it. Nice view. If you like snow and mountains Probably good place for a smoke.

Kikki’s happy smile dropped a note. “Eeeeh? What do you meaaan?”

“You’re not fooling anyone, you know.”

“Hmm, I wonder”, Kikki smirked as she skipped next to her roommate. “Wanna talk now?”

Shizuka calmly took a puff from her cig and exhaled into the dark snowy sky. “About what?”

The young girl tipped her chin. “What is going on? Where are we? Is our whole concept of reality wrong? You know, that sort of thing.”

The nurse rolled her eyes. “Not interested.”

Kikki nodded pleased. “Let’s skip the boring stuff. Who do you think is the biggest threat here?”

“Isn’t that you?”

Kikki giggled. “Thank you! But I’m just an innocent little girl. I can’t compete with these meanies at all!”

Uhu.

“Fine, fine!”, the self described innocent little girl sighed and let herself fall backwards on her bed. “Then let’s address the penguin in the room. What’s up with her?”

“Who knows? This is a magic world, created by a demented midget with anger issues. It’s not that strange all things considered.”

“Hmm...maybeee...”Kikki frowned, while wiggling her feet. “We’re not telling, big bro?”

“Absolutely not”, despite her arousal, Shizuka’s expression became stern.

“Yeaaahhh”, the young girl mused. “If he finds out the truth, big bro probably breaks, especially after you betrayed him.”

If the nurse was bothered by that, she wasn’t showing it. “Probably don’t need to spell it out but don’t share what we know with anyone else either. And don’t confront her.”

“Wasn’t planning on it”, Kikki stared at the white ceiling. A bunch of penguins were staring back at her. Painted, I feel the need to specify. “There’s a chance she makes the first move though.”

“If it happens it happens. Regardless...”, Shizuka paused, at this point not a single hint of her prior lackadaisical persona remaining. “I absolutely refuse to let that monster sink her claws into Ashy-ko ever again.”

“Likewise”, Kikki grinned. “Big Bro is mine! And I’m not sharing. No way! And if that meanie face gets between me and my Big brother…”

For a brief moment the mask slipped and Shizuka got a glimpse at what lurks beneath. The nurse wasn’t joking earlier. In a sense, Kikki really was the biggest threat.

Even so, between a monster and a devil the later can at least be bargained with.

If she wants to have any chance of making it through this she needs to have her wits about her.

And what better place to make a deal with the devil then her own personal hell?

…

..

.

“This is our room?”

Carol looked around the barren, tiny, room. There was barely any furniture, aside for the single bed that looked like it could fit exactly one person, and a small one at that. The clothes she wore prior were rudely tossed about the floor and Carol had trouble picking them up without bumping into her roommate.

“These accommodations are quite sufficient”, the haughty penguin butler explained. “If you do not like it, I suggest you rank higher next time.”

“May I at least ask were the bathroom is?”, unconsciously Carol grabbed her mouth.

“You may”, the butler penguin generously allowed. “The communal bath’s are situated one floor higher on the first floor of Ludo Manor and open to all social ranks Servant and higher.”

Right. Carol tried to create a mental map of this place but quickly reached her limit. If it wasn’t painfully obvious that normal rules don’t apply here, it definitely was after they turned right four times in a row.

Instead, Carol tried to make use of landmarks. Their host liked two things, herself and penguins and there were a considerable amount of statues of both subjects. Unfortunately that plan fell flat when she saw one of the golden penguins hop off their pedestal and waddle away.

Frustrating didn’t even come close to describe this manor.

Thus, all she could go by on was what the butler penguin told them. They were currently in B1F, underground and in the so called servant area. Trying to find the stairs up alone will be a nightmare. But maybe Carol should count their blessings. Sinclair and Marvelous were led further in.

“Orientation and work assignments will be handed out tomorrow at breakfast. Until then do try not to gallivant about haphazardly. That will be all.”

Not gracing the two maids with a single additional syllable, the penguin spun on his feet and left them to their misery.

And Carol was not using that word lightly. Growing up in a lower class household she was used to less then ideal living standards but this closet of a room did not even have a single window. It was hard to believe that this was only the second worst accommodation.

Briefly, Carol glanced towards her roommate before quickly averting her gaze again.

The redhead blushed. It was a bit easier when they were in a group but being alone with her the sensation was hard to describe. The best Carol could come up with was an **** case of second hand embarrassment.

“Would you mind terribly stripping?”

Carol was surprised how easy the request came. She knew in her mind that wanting to see Watson nude was wrong, but at the same time it felt completely normal. As if the fact that Watson should be naked all the times was a universal truth.

The nerd also realized that while she had to fight to keep the idea of “Watson being naked is wrong” alive, she could easily slip into “Watson being naked is right” and never look back.

She wondered why their captor didn’t just brainwash them into obedience, but reasoned that as any sadist worth their salt, the audience watching this enjoyed the struggle.

Of course, there are examples to the contrary. The punishment transformation that Sinclair received seemed impossible to resist, no matter how much the delinquent struggled.

It felt a bit arbitrary, as if the little host was just making this up as she went, but obviously that can’t be the case. There had to be some method to this madness and if Carol can figure that out...

Hedhehogstew69: lol

Hedhehogstew69: stfu nerd

Carol scowled, before deciding to switch the subject. “Say, that laptop of yours. Does it have an outside connection?”

Hedhehogstew69: shut up

Hedhehogstew69: ugly ass fatty

Carol sighed and took her glasses off. It made Watson’s offensive look slightly more tolerable. “Please be a bit more cooperative. We are all in this together and this anti social behavior is not helping anyone.”

Hedhehogstew69: kill yourself.

Hedhehogstew69: fat bitch, why u even alive?

SLAM!

With swift, deliberate movement, Carol had pushed Watson on the bed and before the NEET even had time to comprehend what had happened, she had mounted her.

The older girl, after the surprise had worn off was of course attempting to shove her off.

To little avail. Being on the heavier side does have its perks.

“Listen here, you pathetic failure of a human being”, Carol hissed. “This is both a competition and a zero sum game. That means in order to win, somebody has to lose.”

Watson stared up at her assailant with wide discolored eyes. A red and a green one in fact. Even without her glasses, Carol could tell as much.

“Now, most of the contestants in this game are out of my league”, Carol continued. “You however are not.”

…

Carol pushed her own face down until their noses were almost touching.

“So, give me one good reason why I shouldn’t just spend the night dominating you and get myself a nice safety cushion of points."

The older but much scrawnier girl opened her mouth but no sounds came out.

Carol waited. She had time.

After, some more grunts and moans, the subdued girl finally managed to verbalize something along the lines of. “D-don’twannaaa…”

Carol nodded. “I imagine you don’t. Now, will you be cooperative or do I need to first show you a few techniques I learned from Miss de Sade?”

Watson eagerly shook her head until Carol grabbed her cheeks and squeezed them.

“You are human. You have this thing called a mouth. Use it.”

“I understand! I understand!”

Better, Carol thought.

“Speak in full sentences.”

“I understand. I will be cooperative.”

Much better.

“I am pleased to hear that”, Carol responded, removing some, but not all of her weight from the girl. “That means no more cursing, no more crass language and no more obscene clothing. Do you understand? Reply with, yes Miss Summers if you do.”

“Y-yes, Miss Summers.”

“Good girl.”

Dominated another contestant(First time only!) +3 VP

Submitted to another contestant(First time only!) -3 VP

Only then did Carol slowly shift away from the dominated girl. A part of her was prepared for Watson to lash out, but it looks like she effectively cowed her into submission.

The nerd took a deep breath, calming herself down. This sensation was still very novel to her, although she did experience it a few times with Pompadour.

Pompadour and her were at each others throat for all of High School. It wasn’t until College when she finally managed to overtake him and established herself as the superior student.

The first time Miss de Sade **** Pompadour on his knees and made him kiss her shoes was a rush she will never forget.

That night was the first time she ever pleasured herself.

She fantasized a lot about him since, in her mind going far beyond that simple ritual of submission.

The redhead quickly shook her head to get these thoughts out of her mind. This was not the place for this. Watson, she needs to focus on Watson.

In truth, Carol said quite a few things that were not true to get the unsocial girl to cooperate, chiefly the threat about squeezing her for points was nothing but a bluff.

Carol Summers had no delusions of winning this game. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down. She will simply keep her head down and let the more flamboyant girls play the game of thrones. Her victory condition will be to obtain a middling rank in both popularity and victory points. The plain girl that is nobodies favorite but also nobody despises.

This is how she will make it through this show.

...

Of course, having an edge over the competition can never hurt. Watson might prove useful yet as a pawn.

“Now, let us take a look at that laptop of yours, shall we?”

Once again, Carol reached upwards toward her mouth.

...

Her teeth were starting to ache.

…

..

.

“This has got to be a joke!”

Sahara stared furiously at the cell the Penguin guided her too. Yes, cell. There was no way around it. This was a prisoner cell. Albeit even prisoners would be treated more humanely.

There wasn’t even a window, or even a bed, just a bunch of straw on the ground of a dingy medieval looking dungeon.

“Spare me your whining, ****”, Preminger responded rudely. “You have a long day ahead of you tomorrow, so I suggest you do well to get some rest.”

“Rest?”, Sahara gasped. “You expect me to sleep in this hovel? It smells! It is dirty! And it is freezing!”

“There is a fire”, Preminger responded.

“EXCUSE ME?”

The “fire” the butler penguin mentioned was a single pitiful candle that illuminated the dank windowless cell.

“HOW IS THAT SUPPOSED TO DO ANYTHING BEYOND POTENTIALLY IMMOLATE US!”

"Oi, pack it in, mate."

Invalid chore: No Victory points available

And then there was her cellmate.

The canine delinquent was currently sitting in the cell, with her hands behind her head, looking pleased as a punch. She looked so at home in fact that Sahara was convinced she usually slept in the gutter.

If there was a time and place for the brutish bully to show her teeth then Sahara would say it is now!

“And what of her?”, Sahara bristled. “What will you do if she mauls me in my sleep?”

“In the case of such an occurrence, your fellow **** will of course be eliminated.” , the penguin butler responded bluntly. “Have no fear”

“THERE IS PLENTY TO FEAR, YOU SIMPERING SIMPLETON!”

“Enough. My time is far too valuable as to be wasted on lowly slaves...I have much more important business to tend to.”

“Hold it right there!”

Sahara shrieked and rushed the penguin but the butler was surprisingly quick on his feet and closed. the cell door, leaving the two girls trapped.

The disgraced rich girl flung herself on the cell door and rattled at them. But of course to no avail.

“Oi.”

“COME BACK HERE THIS INSTANCE!”

“Oi!”

“I DEMAND TO SPEAK TO THE MANAGER! I AM SAHARA HARMONY ANA...”

“I SAID OI!”

The roar from her unpredictable cellmate caused Sahara to freeze in her tracks

Right, she completely forgot that she was in an enclosed space with a bloodthirsty maniac!

“Y-you beast! Are you attempting to savage me?”

“How's ya back feelin'?”

Sahara widened her eyes in confusion. “M-My back?”

"Oi, the thing on the other side of yer chesticles."

This vulgar mutt!

“F-fine…”, Sahara responded sheepishly. “It does not hurt anymore.”

The delinquent nodded curtly. “Ya got a real stinger in ya, Princess. Won't do ya any good, though. Try and keep yer cool from now on.”

“You are the last person who has any right to educate me on matters of grace! Why are you so calm now anyways? Do you even comprehend the situation we are in?”

“Aye”, the dog girl nodded. “Don’t get me wrong. I'm gonna get my payback on that crusty cunt. Just got a bit too aggro earlier, aye. Ya gotta learn to work harder not smarter.” She tipped the side of her head.

“You said it the wrong way!” Heavens, this girl was exhausting to socialize with!

But the bully only shivered in response.

"Crikey, it's brass monkeys weather in here! The penguin's got a fair point, we gotta hit the hay. Wanna huddle up for some body warmth?”

Sahara had difficulty understanding the tongue in which the delinquent was attempting human speech, even so she could puzzle out some words.

“I will most certainly not share a bed with you!”

“Don’t see no bed here.”

Instead of responding, Sahara stubbornly pressed herself against the cold metal of their cell door. “You stay over there! If you presume to **** me I will scream so loud it ruptures your eardrums!”

“Yeah, yeah”, the delinquent stuck a finger in one of her fluffy ears and scratched it. “Suit yerself, Princess”

“I will! And stop calling me that!”

“Sure thing, princess.”

“Hmph!”

…

…

…

“Ehem…just one more question?”

“Aye, Princess?

Sahara squirmed. “Where is the bathroom to this accommodation?”

Her canine companion pointed towards a bucket.

…

Sahara hates animal ****.

But once she makes it out of here she will turn that penguin into her personal coat!

…

..

.

Dahlia looked around with a bit of an uncertain expression in her eyes.

“What is this?”

One half of the room looked like a luxurious suite, akin to what you would find in a high class hotel.

This however changed abruptly halfway through the room. From there, the suite suddenly turned into an old timey’s Wild West Sheriff’s Office, including a cell block.

The two wildly different styles clashed together and formed a weird combination of Work and Leisure.

Perhaps it shouldn’t surprise Dahlia. Not after getting to her suite involved taking an elevator.

Through a horizontal underwater aquarium.

That was inhabited by penguins.

“That is your work station, my lady”, the penguin butler(who was a remarkably fast swimmer) courteously informed her.

“You mean, my manager position?”, Dahlia decided to clarify.

“Indeed. My deepest apologies, but we are on quite the strict schedule. As such, I must ask you to complete the work plan for our maids tonight.”

The penguin eagerly waddled to the desk and Dahlia felt compelled to follow.

There, the big breasted manager found herself confronted with a bunch of paperwork and what appeared to be wanted posters of all the contestants, aside from de Sade and herself.

None of it was organized in the slightest and trying to make heads or tails of it was very confusing.

For example, Dahlia was expecting to find mostly household chores that needed to be dealt with. Scrubbing the floor, cooking meals, that sort of activity.

And while that certainly was an option. The “work” that apparently needed to be doing was a lot more flexible then just that.

In fact some of the work was clearly serving no other purpose then to **** and or humiliate the maid who ended up with the job.

The workload also vastly exceeded what her six maids were realistically capable of doing. This was perfectly fine, her avian assistant assured. Any excess work would be handled by the hotels non unionized penguin work ****. All that was required from the contestants was that they work to their best of their ability.

In fact, if Dahlia wanted she could give all the girls extremely simple and easy jobs.

…

“Mr. Preminger?”

“Lord Preminger, if it pleases you. I have you know I was given a Lordship by her royal Majesty for my distinguished service during the Emu wars.”

“Uh, right”, Dahlia nodded. “Lord Preminger, how much of the information here is needed to be shared with the contestants?”

“Ah yes”, the penguin nodded and cleared his throat. “As the manager your responsibility entails to properly and accurately inform all your maids of their work assignment for the current round by 9 A.M tomorrow. You must do so both verbally, in writing and in good faith. You are not allowed to use subterfuge, vague language or any such trickery that could result in a maid misinterpreting what her duties for the round are. Complications, special assignments or any other events that could impede the maids ability to complete their working hours must be communicated likewise Any changes to their work schedule during the round must also be communicated likewise.”

Dahlia listened to the penguin’s lengthy explanation carefully. “That is all?”

Lord Preminger bowed. “That is all, my Dame.”

The manager slowly nodded and diverted her attention back to the messy desk.

From here on out, all that was left to do was get to work.

…

..

.

The cable car made slow rhythmically noises as it traveled up the massive mountain.

Ashley sat alone in the luxurious cabin, listlessly drinking some hot cocoa, while gazing out into the dark, snowy sky.

Well, he wasn’t technically alone.

The busty pinkette maid that punched and **** him was on board as well. She was apparently serving as the conductor for this...thing, although he hasn’t seen her after he boarded(more like was shoved into) the cabin.

Technically, this may have been a gondola cabin, but make no mistake. This was a full blown luxury suite suspended on cables. It came with two floors and was build to resemble a fancy alpine lodge. The illusion was near perfect, if it weren’t for an obnoxious amount of golden penguin statues that served as décor.

According to the maid conductor, the cable car would be docked in the manor station’s during the day, but every night, from 08 P.M to 08 A.M, complete a round-trip all the way up to Ora Peak and back down again.

There didn’t seem to be any other point to this journey other that the host thought it was “really cool”

While the vehicle did complete a rather drastic change in altitude, the ascend was slow and subtle enough that the passengers didn’t really notice it. The small vibrations that were felt only served as a gentle reminder just how comfortable this cabin truly was.

Ashley was pretty sure that this technical marvel violated all kind of physical laws and was one cable snap away from bringing about his untimely demise but he was also not so politely informed that the masters migration in the manor's mobile master suite was mandatory for many masters.

Seriously, if this was a joke it was in very bad taste.

His thoughts were all over the place and since he was stuck in here until morning(and can’t even masturbate), Ashley decided he might as well explore his mobile lodgings.

The ground floor featured a lounge area, including a massive television, fireplace and ping pong table(for some reason), as well as a way too large dining table and a bathroom.(The toilet was solid gold)

There was an elevator(because of course there was) or more rustic, a spiral wooden staircase that would bring passengers up to the equally massive second floor, which was divided between a gaudy bedroom and a luxurious bathroom.

Finally, the staircase ascended even further and allowed access from the second floor to the roof balcony, which did double duty as an open air hot spring, and also included a waterslide back down to the second floor bathroom.

But by this point Ashley had long since stopped questioned the insanity of this vehicle.

And so the **** student found himself standing on the balcony portion of the roof, shivering as the biting cold assaulted him.

It was snowing. And this time the snowflakes were reaching him.

Craning his neck up, the young master could indeed make out a massive mountain. Ashley could also make out the suspended tracks that circled said mountain all the way to the top. They were periodically illuminated by lights and made the mountain look like the worlds biggest Christmas tree.

It wasn’t the only mountain of course. Gazing in the distance he could spot other snow covered peaks as far as the eye can see. He didn’t spot any sign of human civilization though, save of course for the building he came from.

Ludo Manor.

It was called that, but quite frankly it looked more like a fantasy castle.(a very evil fantasy castle) It stuck out of the frigid wilderness like a sore thumb, as if someone just copy pasted the whole thing without any regard for consistency.

The bottom line was, that any attempt at escape, would no doubt be met with an untimely demise.

But perhaps even that...

He felt a warm coat draped over him and looking back to saw the pink maid standing behind him. Despite the fact that she was not dressed at all for the outside, she didn’t seem to feel the cold in the slightest.

“During your stay here, I will be at your service, oh esteemed master.”, the maid offered up in terms of explanation. “Please do not hesitate to call if you need my...services.”

The last word was said with a bit of an odd inflection.

“Right”, Ashley nodded and pulled his coat closer. He was definitely not wearing appropriate clothing for a trip up the mountains. “Uh…shouldn’t you drive this...thing?”

“Of course not, movement is automatic, oh esteemed master. I am just here in case it breaks down, which I hope it doesn’t. I have no clue how to fix it. Or drive it, for that matter.”

Yep, this is definitely what you want to hear when you are suspended 200 feet in the air in a metal **** trap.

“Eh, don’t worry. I piloted bigger things then this. How hard can it possible be?”

...

“Is something the matter, oh esteemed master?”

“Nothing much”, Ashley glared at his so called maid. “Aside the fact that you punched me in the gut, **** and **** me to be part in whatever sick game this is. Oh, did I mention the metal **** trap we are currently in? That you can’t drive? Because that matters too.”

The pink maid had the gall to respond to that with a curtsy. “I am most pleased to hear that there are no significant issues, oh esteemed master.”

…

“Do you have to call me that?”

“Yeah, it’s my punishment for punching you, oh esteemed master. Please enjoy it to your hearts content, oh esteemed master.”

The not particularly esteemed feeling master took a deep breath. “I don’t think I ever caught your name.”

His maid(?) gave a small nod. “I am nobody of importance, oh esteemed master. You may call me whatever you desire.”

“Ok then, Pinky.”

“Don’t call me that.”

...

This will be a long trip, won’t it?

“So, what’s your role here? You don’t exactly strike me as an average maid”, Ashley asked. Might as well engage in smalltalk with his captors. Maybe she develops Lima syndrome from it.

“My role…” the maid seemed to ponder that for a bit. “You may view me as somewhat of a babysitter for the shitty little brat running this show.”

…

“The shitty, little brat?”

“The shitty, little brat.”

“You mean the girl in charge of this?”

“Do you see any other shitty, little brat playing gameshow host?”

…

Right.

Ashley cleared his throat. “Um..uh...any advice on what I should do now?”

The maid raised an eyebrow. “What is there to do, oh esteemed master? The shitty, little, brat has picked you as her newest toy and so you’re gonna entertain her until she inevitable gets bored and moves on to her next victim. It probably happens sooner then you think. Your situation is actually comparatively enjoyable. So, to answer your question, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.”

“I can’t do that”, Ashley vehemently shook his head. “This...this show, you know what’s at stake here?”

“I was briefed, yes.”

“Then you know that I can’t just sit idly by!”

“Why?”

“W-why?”

His maid gave him somewhat of a look. “These bitches are all awful. If you don’t want to actively seek **** on them, fine. But why bend over backwards to save people that made your life hell?”

“Not all of them are bitches”, Ashley mumbled. “Dahlia always supported me. And Kikki, after what I did...I deserve it and Shizu...Shizu…”

Ashley trembled, grabbing the railing so hard his knuckles turned white.

Then he started crying.

“H-hey!”

“Shizu...she...she was like a big sister to me. I know her for almost all my life. I...I trusted her more then anyone! And she did this to me!”

The conductor maid could only look on as her master was having a nervous breakdown. Not that she could blame him of course. She was amazed he managed to keep it in for that long.

“It’s funny”, Ashley chuckled hollowly. “It almost feels worse since I got that transformation. Before that...it was hard but...the sting was numbed. Almost as if it didn’t matter. But now…”

...

“I get it”, the maid finally nodded emphatically. “Guess she deserves herself one hell of spanking.”

“A-a spanking? You think this...this can be resolved with a spanking?”

She shrugged. “Worked for me. Thought I could never forgive the shitty, little brat. Then I spanked her.”

“You spanked her? The sadistic monster running this show, who clearly has power far beyond human comprehension”, Ashley looked incredulous.

“Ok, fine, I did a few other things too”, the crazy maid admitted. “Bottom line, don’t knock it before you tried it. Feels very cathartic.”

For a brief moment Ashley could do nothing but gape at his abductor.

Then he laughed. Quite loudly.

“H...has anybody ever told you that you kinda suck at your job?”, he finally guffawed out.

“You are not exactly top master material either, you know”, his big-breasted caretaker clapped back. “Oh, most esteemed master.”

“Don’t make it even longer!”

Ashley couldn’t believe he actually got cheered up by this sassy maid. The sheer audacity of it was so ridiculous, it somehow worked.

He knew this was only a temporary fix though. His situation was not something that could just be laughed away.

“But isn’t this a good thing?”

Ashley raised an eyebrow, he wasn’t sure he was ready for even more insanity.

“What is?”, he finally asked, despite his better judgment.

“Ok, imagine for a moment that you are the Superhero Squirrel Boy.”

…

“What?”

“Just do it”, the maid insisted.

“A-alright fine, I’m Squirrel Guy.”

“Squirrel boy.”

…

“Squirrel boy.”

“Good”, the pinkette nodded pleased. “Now, the evil supervillain, Katie, the prankster has kidnapped the eight contestants of this season. The shitty, little, brat is of course furious. So she sends you, Squirrel boy, out to rescue them. After braving many adventurers you finally track Katie down to her tropical island hideout, ready to dish out nutty justice with your Squirrel punch!”

She made a gesture of punching someone.

“POW!”

Ashley suddenly felt very empty inside.

“Anyways, the prankster has suspended the eight girls at the islands volcano. In fact, they were hanging precariously over an active crater!”

…

“ok.”

“Now, using the power of your magic nuts you can exactly safe two of them, before the rest gets dropped in the volcano to burn alive, screaming in agony while their very flesh is melted from…”

“Yes, I think I get the picture.”

The maid raised two fingers. “Now here is the important part: Out of these eight girls, which two is Squirrel boy saving?”

…

Quite frankly it wasn’t even a contest.

Now that Shizu has betrayed him Dahlia was the only person left he could truly depend upon.

As for Kikki, while their could be an argument made that he more then paid his debt, she was the only one of his bullies who had a justifiable reason for her actions. And even after all that has happened between the two. She was still his little sister. He could never forgive himself if something happened to her.

“So, Dahlia and Kikki, you save those two?”

“Yes”, Ashley nodded. “Without question.”

“Excellent. So, Squirrel boy saves two out of the eight girls. But just as all hope was lost for the remaining six! A miracle happens! Squirrel boy somehow managed to grow two more magic nuts!”

“...how?”

“That’s not important. You have two more nuts. Out of the remaining six girls, which do you safe?”

…

Ashley pondered the question.

The least worst of the bunch was probably Carol. She lorded her superiority over him and made him kiss her feet. But she did so mostly by instigation of Teacher de Sade. And for what it is worth, she did apologize for her actions earlier.

Next...Sahara. She was the bully Ashley had the least experience with, having only started working for her this summer. And while the entitled rich girl certainly got out of her way to make his part time job as miserable as possible, Ashley also always could have just...quit.

“See?”, the pink maid nodded, annoyingly pleased with herself. “You’re having a hierarchy. And in a zero-sum game like this, that’s extremely valuable.”

Ashley understood where the maid was coming from. Even though he could have done without that stupid analogy.

Like it or not, he was the master. He may be a prisoner just as the girls but he had considerably more power. And he should use that power to make sure the girls he cared the most about are safe.

To be honest, it wasn’t even worth pointing out. Even an idiot would know that.

He knew that. But still…

“For someone to win in a zero-sum game, someone has to lose”, she finally decided to spell it out plainly. “There is no way around that.”

…

“Umm, can I ask you a question?”

The maid nodded. “Sure.”

“Are you perhaps bad at math?”

The pink maid immediately turned even more pink. “N-No? W-what are you implying?”

Ashley let out a sigh. “To start out with, you and your boss keep calling this a zero-sum game. But that’s just not the case. Certainly not when there are a total of 160 points to start out with. Only a 100 points are needed to win the game, in other words there is a surplus of 60 points. There is no reason for any girl to go in the negative!”

The maid had her arms folded and didn’t seem very impressed. “Uhu. You are saying this while two of the contestants are already in the red. One massively so.”

“Liz is still salvageable and if all the other girls chip in with small chores for her Sahara can get back in the black. There’s also the rule that lets someone transfer 10% of their Victory Points to another contestant each round. Basically as long as everyone cooperates this is easily doable.”

“Aha!”, the maid eagerly latched on to that. “But what about people like de Sade? You think she’s going to cooperate?”

“She better does. Or the rest of the girls are going to gang up on her. No **** of course, but I’m sure your boss won’t have a problem with tossing her in a closet bound and gagged, right?”

“W-well…”

Ashley looked at her determined. “I’m serious about this. I’m not letting any of them fall in the lava. I’m saving them all. And I’m beating the shitty, little brat at her own game.”

Finally, the maid did no longer retort, she only stared at the master in front of her with a wide-eyed look.

“By the way, you didn’t call me “esteemed master”, lately.”

“Well, damn, oh esteemed master”, the pink haired maid let out a sigh. “I think I liked you more when you were shitting your pants.”

“I don’t wear pants.”

“Har, har. You know, perverts are much cooler if they actually own it.”

That finally resulted in the long sought after sputtering. “P-Pervert?”

“What else to call someone who just hours after getting **** is already scheming to make even his most wretched bullies part of his harem?”

“T-that is so not...”

The maid dismissively waved her hand. “Safe it. It’s probably the reason the shitty, little, brat picked you. She has a thing for perverts.”

“Speaking from experience?”

“You are an obnoxious little shit are you? No wonder you ended up getting bullied.” Despite the harsh words, there was a change in the way the maid looked at Ashley. And he almost thought he saw a smile.

“Let’s get back inside”, the maid said as she moved to the stairs. “If you get a cold the shitty, little brat will never stop bitching.”

“Right, Ashley nodded. “And, thanks.”

“Hmph, for what?”, before moving down the stairs, she briefly turned her head around. “Name’s Cherry, by the way.”

…

..

.

CRAAAAAAAAAAAAASHHHH!!!

“WHAT DO YOU MEAAAAAN INCOMPETENT!!!!”

KABOOOOOOOMMMM!!!!!!!!

“YOU THINK YOU CAN INSULT ME LIKE THAAAAAAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

BOOOM!!!!!!!

“I EVISCERATE YOUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Inside her command center(rose garden) Ora had just read initial reactions to her season and was having a minor bout of discontentment over the criticism lobbed at her.

Lord Preminger did try his best to pacify his Mistress, to little success. “Your omnipotence, please, if you can just calm yourself…”

“I AM CAAAAAALM!!!!!!!!!!!”

Taking a deep breath, the little host contained her fury.

What a disaster of a start. Of course Ora herself did nothing wrong. It was all the hags fault, really. Who would have thought the hag was so skilled at being a hag she actively ruined her season with her hag-ness? Like, come on! That’s just unseasonable!

...

It’s fine. The audience may complain now but they love drama. They are going to eat this up. She just has to get to the point were the wicked hag gets her comeuppance, which will totally happen and then everything is hunky dory again!

Ora plopped herself down in front of a large widescreen TV. That lazy Slugabed Sally still hasn’t done the challenge, so she might as well see what the so called competition was doing. Of course, Ora uses that word loosely, none of these chumps stand a ghost of a chance against her.

The first show she watched was about some fantasy paladin and his party that was **** into his harem by a misguided God. Wow, talk about a raw deal. Must suck to be saddled with such an incompetent buffoon as a God.

At least the contestants were cute. Slimegirl, Dragon, they even had a princess! Why exactly does Ora not have a princess? Sahara doesn’t count.

Not sure she as on board with the master. A tiefling paladin? Oh please. What’s next? A Drow Pirate?

Next, she tried out the season about some loser applying for a job at McDonalds. Ora’s favorite food is Chicken Nuggets and fries, so that one sounded promising but then she found at that this wasn’t about McDonalds at all and switched channels in disappointment.

Then there were two more seasons that have barely gotten of the ground yet. Ugh, they really let ever random loser host a show these days. Back in her day(two weeks ago) she had to work hard to get this gig!

Ora quickly flicked through some bunker show that was probably run by the paladin’s girlfriend and one featuring a hag as master(*shudder*) before settling on the show she was actually interested in.

The ghost show.

That sapphire specter has style, Ora admitted grudgingly. And the contestants, despite being deceased for decades, looked like mostly well adjusted people, compared to the freaks on her own season.

She was particularly fond of Cassandra. Ora always had a faible for witches. Especially those with a faible for grandeur.

She liked what she saw and the more she liked what she saw the more her brow furrowed. The girls were cute, the host was blue and the master was a wimpy dweeb, but less of a wimpy dweeb than Ashley.

Uggghhh, she knew she shouldn’t have run that stupid commercial! Now everyone is going to watch the ghost season instead!

Why didn’t she include any ghosts? Sylvia’s season had one and that one is running since forever. And that big boobed vampire lady has a bunch of ghost servants, or at least she claims so. It’s probably false advertising but if it works it works.

Anyway, it’s clear that dead people are a recipe for success. And that blue buffoon was the host with the most ghosts.

Ora knew she couldn’t let that slide. She can’t have that upjumped ghost host steal her thunder. She better deal with her sooner rather then later.

...

“Preminger!”

“Yes, my mistress?”

“We still have those zombie penguins lying around, right?”

The butler Penguin nodded. “We do, mistress. They are currently kept in cold storage.”

“Send them over to the ghost host as a gift! Let’s see that clumsy ghost girl run her hotel when it’s overrun by zombie penguins!

The little host cackled giddily while Preminger bowed.

“It will be done, my mistress.”

Now that her competition was properly sabotaged the little host felt considerably better. Quick check...nope! Sally still hasn’t started her challenge so that’s enough TV for today.

That said...watching the Ghost seasons chat gave her an idea. She had one of those too! And while there were some complaints earlier, that was mostly due to one weirdo who was obsessed with de Sade.

Surely by now, the rest of the audience has realized how great she was.

“Let’s take a look at what the audience thinks. I want to bathe in the praise of my adoring fans.”

…

..

.

“The transformations were anti climatic and completely void of any cathartic experience”

“another wimpy ass master lol”

“dropped”

“This is just payback season rip off.”

“Kikki kinda sus”

“host sus too.”

“Megan? More like Morgana amirite?”

“host joining harem when?”

“Where’s the boob tf’s for kikki?”

“delicious flat chest”

“Megan did nothing wrong”

“single meg fan spotted”

“Imagine being so bad you tie with de sade lol”

“fuck de sade”

“single de sade fan spotted”

“**** season”

“penguin season”

“**** season”

“Sahara perpetuates a harmful stereotype of rich people being portrayed as hedonistic villains. This is very offensive.”

“Shizuka did nothing wrong.”

“Sahara’s drier then the desert lol”

“Shizuka did everything wrong”

“I hope Lou Reed sues your ass”

“chat is this woke?”

“I like Dahlia.”

“This comment section is just a Sylvia rip off.”

“01151947”

“not even Hardric watches this rip lol”

“I WANT TO SNIFF CAROL’S SWEATY ARMPITS!”

“Teach’s basically invincible, boring”

“de sade? More like defraud”

“Teach’s gonna neg no dif”

“#hagseason”

“MY NAME IS ORA!”

“Hello? I got turned into a spork. Where can I complain?”

“clothes for likes was better”

“add Cherry 2 Harem #bestgirl

“what’s even the fucking point when de stupid just gonna win this shit anyways? Fucking trash season”

“give Liz’s points back!”

“Liz’s overrated af”

“RHYMES WITH ORA!”

“Liz points back or we riot”

“ghost season just dropped, it’s much better”

“Host allowed attack on hag with hag season”

“Liz did nothing wrong, return points”

“Babs>Liz”

“hehe boobs”

“#hagseason”

“de sade kinda hot ngl”

“shut up de sade”

“incompetent host”

“#pedopenguinseason”

...

..

.

“EEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

…………………………………………………………………………

End of episode report:

VP and BP standing:

1) Dahlia Black: 28.5 VP 4500 BP

2) nerd: Carol Summers: 26 VP 0 BP

3) step-sister: Kikki Peshkova: 25 VP 0 BP

4) NEET: Megan Watson: 21.25 VP 0 BP

5) Hag: Miss de Sade: 12 VP 4500 BP

6) horny nurse: Shizuka Hayabusa: 7 VP 0 BP

7) Doggie: Liz Sinclair: -4.5 VP 0 BP

8) rich girl: Sahara Marvelous: -19.25 VP 0 BP

pot: +64 Victory points

total: 160 Victory points

.............................................................

"One more" transformation reveal:

Due to TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES the "One more" transformation reveal has been postponed to the next episode. Stay tuned for the thrilling reveal!

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Character Bio's(post first transformations)

Rules and regulations