And even though it all went wrong

SHIT! Why the hell do I have to do this!?

Kim felt like she was going to die.

I just got done working a long and boring shift! After spending an ungodly amount of time wandering through that fucking maze! Everybody ELSE got to chill out and relax in the hot spring, even Holly, but not me, NO! And just when I’m getting ready to go to sleep for the night, we get dragged out of our rooms for this crazy doppelganger bullshit!? I’m exhausted! Let me fucking sleep, damn it! Why the hell am I running across the beach at top speed, with my lungs threatening to burst out of my chest!?

The answer to that question had four words.

Those four words were “Augmented”, “Synthetic”, “Humanoid”, and “Assassin”.

She was running at top speed back towards the hotel, and everyone else was chasing after her.

“WAIT!” Kim’s voice was ragged from how loud she was screaming coupled with the ache of her lungs. “Stop running! Just slow DOWN!”

After Nick disappeared, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin hadn’t wasted any time. Using what remained of her nanomachines this round, she augmented her running speed and the muscles in her legs, making it nearly impossible for a normal girl- even one who had been working out as much as Kim had recently- to catch up to her.

Kim had no idea what would happen if her assassin friend made it back to the hotel, but she knew it would be bad.

Luckily, she wasn’t alone in this.

“Hey! Slow down!” Dani called after the long-haired girl. She was actually able to keep pace with the mute assassin thanks to her own enhanced strength. And she wasn’t the only one, either. Rose had copied her transformation to help with the challenge, and that time hadn’t run out yet. So she was right there with both of them.

“That bitchy Mary copy! Like hell I’ll let her have Nick all to herself!”

…Her motives were probably more aligned with Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s than with Dani’s, however.

“All of you… hah… slow… slow down…” Kim groaned. She could feel the strength leaving her body already, it had been too long a day and she was just too tired. And yet, she was still at the head of the pack as far as the “normal” girls were concerned. (Those whose athletic abilities had not been enhanced by transformations.)

Behind her, Carly and Marley were doing their best. Carly probably could have passed Kim by now, but her sister was holding her back. Then, there was Dawn, whose legs were short but who had stamina, and Holly and Mary, who may not have been athletic, but were highly motivated.

Vivian and Cinder had the athletic abilities of normal people, so they weren’t able to do very much. Trailing behind them were Morgana and Gina, who not only absolutely fucking sucked when it came to anything involving sports or running, but had to contend with the strain of their boobs while they were doing so.

At the very back of the group were Sylvia and Amelia, who were just walking at a normal pace.

“…This is stupid,” Sylvia muttered, shaking her head. “That echo isn’t going to do anything to Daddy. It wouldn’t be safe for her. She has to keep the audience happy as the host, after all.”

Amelia nodded. “I agree.”

Sylvia couldn’t help but smile. “Still… they’re all worked up for Daddy’s sake… so that’s good…”

Amelia noticed that Sylvia’s smile was forced.

“Sylvia… you’re worried about Dakota, aren’t you?” The teacher was surprised she had managed to get her thoughts out properly for once. Sylvia looked at her, startled.

“I… I am…” she mumbled, the color draining from her face. “But… I just have to hope that… everything will be alright…”

Amelia frowned. She didn’t think that was an actionable plan in the slightest, but there was nothing she could say about it. “…I see.”

Sylvia’s hands were trembling. Her heart was racing.

…So was Kim’s. But hers felt like it was going to explode.

“Just SLOW DOWN!” She put all of her strength into shouting.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin’s ear twitched. She actually did slow down, once she heard Kim’s plea.

Unfortunately, she did so with such suddenness that Dani couldn’t stop in time, and plowed right into her, bringing both women down into the sand.

“Whaaaaa!” Rose flailed her arms frantically, unable to stop herself in the sand either, and landed on top of both of them.

Seeing that bit of slapstick left Kim uncertain of what to do.

“Guys, just don’t do anything reckless,” she said, helping the frazzled Rose to her feet as Dani and Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin stood up and brushed themselves off. “We can’t just rush in there and start causing trouble! Mary… or Echo… whatever she’s calling herself, whatever she is… she’s the host now! You guys would never do something like this to Dakota! So just stop and use your heads for a second!”

“Just got here… but… I agree…” Carly held her side, panting. She could move decently well thanks to her athletic abilities, but running for prolonged periods of time wasn’t in her skillset. At least she was better than Marley, though.

Her sister looked like she’d turned into a puddle of slime even within the ten-foot boundary.

“Kim’s right,” Dawn said, catching up with them. “If we just run in half-cocked without a plan and lose our heads, then that twisted woman will be free to punish us as she sees fit. We need to be cautious about this, don’t you agree, Mary? Holly?”

She turned to the other two women with an expectant look on her face as they caught up to her.

“No, fuck that bitch!” Mary shouted, clenching her fist as she ran past them without slowing down for a second.

“Cunty is going down!” Holly agreed, running right beside her.

The other girls watched the two of them race past with unyielding stamina, not sure what to think for a second.

“…Aagh, damn it!” Dawn groaned, grabbing at her messy hair. “Those two-! They always go off the deep end where Nick is concerned! What, they think they’re the only ones worried about him!? How about a little consideration, huh!? It’s taking all of my willpower to remain the sane and rational one, when this stupid transformation has my blood boiling! Raawwg!” She roared like a lion, which everyone else found absolutely adorable.

“Look, it’s not like… I don’t sympathize with where they’re coming from,” Kim admitted. “Especially Mary. But before we mess things up, we need think strategically and focus on her motive. Why would she grab Nick like that?”

“Because she’s Mary,” Rose said bluntly. “It doesn’t matter if she’s twisted and evil, she’s absolutely obsessed with Nick regardless. So of course she’d make a move like that.”

No one could argue with her.

“But this is fine,” Rose said watching Mary’s figure in the distance as she ran towards the hotel with Holly in tow. “Maybe we should just leave it up to her. After all… if anyone can fix this Echo situation, then she can.”

The other girls all looked at Rose in shock.

“R-Rose, that…” Carly covered her mouth in amazement. “I had no idea you could be so mature!”

“Hey!” Rose snapped.

“It’s actually shocking,” Dawn said bluntly. “Are you feeling okay? You don’t have a fever, do you?” She asked worriedly.

“HEY!”

Kim scrunched up her face and looked suspiciously at the fox girl. “…How do we know that Rose isn’t an echo imposter herself?” She pointed out.

“HEY! This stuff hurts, you know!” Rose snapped at them. “I’m being serious! If that girl really is a twisted version of the Mary we know, then nobody knows how to handle her better than Mary herself, right? That’s all I’m saying.”

“…Rose raises a valid point,” Marley said, dragging herself up out of the sand.

Carly’s jaw dropped. “You’re alive?!”

Her sister swung a punch at her.

“Besides!” Rose continued, ignoring the sisters’ spat, “Maybe Mary will say something that completely sets Echo off, and she ends up giving her a punishment transformation! Then she’ll get removed as the host! If we’re lucky, both of them might be taken off the board in a single move!”

In the end, Rose’s motives were fully based on her own self-interest.

“…Of course you would go there,” Kim groaned, rubbing her forehead and letting out a sigh of exasperation.

Kim knew that Rose didn’t REALLY want Mary to be harmed by her duplicate. She was just being her usual Rose self.

“We still need to go back them up, though,” Dani said firmly, and Kim agreed.

The more people they had standing up against the echo, the better.

So the group returned to the hotel together, determined to find Echo and Nick.

But they didn’t even make it to the lobby.

“Shishishishi! My apologies. But you will have to wait there for now.”

Lynette stood at the entrance to the hotel dressed in a perfect maid costume, while still looking as grungy and unkempt in all other ways. Smiling gleefully she looked at the other girls in triumph as everyone reached the doors, gathered together but not permitted inside.

“Lynette!?” Dawn recoiled in surprise. She craned her neck behind her to look down at the beach. “But how-? You-you-! We left you behind-”

“And now I am here! Shishishishi!” Lynette cackled. “Sorry to disappoint. But- before you all return to the hotel, there are some things we need to go over.”

Then she turned to Sylvia.

“Sylvia, what do you think?” She asked, her eyes sparkling. She did a twirl, showing off her costume. “I got new clothes! Fitting for my job as an assistant, wouldn’t you agree? Shishishishi! I’m Maid Lynette! That version was one of my most popular ones!”

“That’s, uh, great, Lynette,” Sylvia congratulated her. It was a bit of a struggle keeping a straight face, given that she had other concerns right now.

“We don’t have time to be playing dress-up!” Cinder snarled, clenching her fists. “Open that door right fucking now!”

“Hey, Cinder, calm down!” Vivian tried to soothe the other girl, shaking off the crippling emotional damage from hearing that they didn’t have time for dress-up. “She’s the assistant now, if you mess with her-”

“What?! Back the fuck off, rich bitch!” Cinder snarled, glaring at Vivian like a feral animal. Vivian jerked back, turning pale, but unable to stand up for herself.

All the while, Lynette was gleefully feasting on the delightful chaos in front of her.

“Hey, listen up, you,” Dani said, crossing her arms over her chest. “I know you’re an assistant now, but that doesn’t mean you get to just do whatever you want!”

“Indeed,” Dawn said, nodding. “In fact, quite the opposite. Per the rules, the members of Nick’s harem are supposed to be in their bedrooms at this time of hour. It is important to follow the rules now that you are part of the staff, is it not?”

Lynette’s eyes bulged in surprise.

“Ah! Lynette had no idea!” She gasped, covering her mouth. “Did Lynette mess up up up up?!”

Luckily, the doll girl was a bit of an airhead, who could be easily confounded. Dawn was quite appreciative of this fact.

But before anyone could take advantage of her sudden bout of self-doubt, the stringy-haired blonde recovered, spreading her lips apart in a twisted smile.

“…Juuuuuuuussst kidddiiiiiiiing!” She chortled, shaking her head. “As if I would be fooled so easily! Shishishishi!”

She wagged a crooked finger from side to side.

“Sorry girlies. That isn’t how this works! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to stop you. But- like you said, um…” It took Lynette a second as she stared at Dawn. “…Short one.”

“Do you not even know our names?!” Dawn screeched, her tail jumping up behind her.

Lynette gave her a blank look. Like Dawn was speaking foolishly for actually thinking that she should care about something like that.

It was almost enough to set Dawn off again. She would be so relieved when this transformation was finally fucking over.

“Anyway, like the short one said, I have no intention of keeping you ladies from your rooms! Shishishishi!” Lynette grinned from ear to ear and clasped her hands together, tilting her head to the side. “By all means! Go right ahead!”

“Really?” Morgana asked tentatively. “That easily?”

“Yeah, of course it’s that easy,” Marley said grimly. “Because she’s not letting us do anything else, isn’t that right?”

Lynette sneered. “Shishishishi! Very perceptive! Perceptive, perceptive, perceptive, perceptive! Exactly correct! By all means- please go right ahead! To your rooms.”

She narrowed her eyes dangerously. “But as you all know… the Master’s Suite is off-limits to contestants after six.”

Kim scowled. So that’s what was going on here, then.

“It’s as we figured,” Carly grimaced. “No wonder Mary and Holly aren’t here, then. You let them through, didn’t you?”

“Shishishishi! Of course!” Lynette chortled. “After all, they both have every right to be in the Master’s Suite at this hour! …But the rest of you? No, no, no, no! I can’t let you go, go, go, go! Mm, mm, mm, mm.” She wagged her finger again. “Now that we have an understanding…”

“Nick’s up in the Master’s Suite, then, isn’t he?” Cinder snarled. “That’s where that redheaded puta took him, isn’t it!?”

“Mm? And how would I know something like that?” Lynette tilted her head to the side. It bent at an inhuman angle that resembled a puppet with its strings cut.

“You-! Just let us see him!” Carly protested. “We’re worried about the guy, don’t make this so difficult for us!”

“That’s kind of her whole thing, in case you hadn’t noticed,” Dani grumbled.

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin had had enough. Without saying a word she stepped forward and planted herself right in front of Lynette, narrowing her blue eyes into a glare aimed right at the smirking doll girl.

Lynette didn’t flinch from her stare for a second. If anything, her smile stretched even wider.

“What’s with that look you’re giving me?” She asked, chuckling. “Shishishishi! You’re not going to use force, are you? That wouldn’t go well for you, I’m afraid.”

“Okay, hold up!” Kim planted herself between the two volatile psychopaths before tensions escalated even further. “Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin, calm down! She’s trying to provoke you so that you’ll make a mistake and get violent! Don’t fall for it! She’s just going to use that to punish you again, you know that, right?”

The assassin scowled, pouting in frustration because she knew that Kim’s suspicions were right on the money.

Lynette just smirked.

“Lynette, just tell us, is Daddy up in the Master’s Suite?” Sylvia asked, approaching her sister with compassion and sympathy instead of violence like the unstable killer.

“…Maybe,” Lynette said, looking Sylvia in the eyes without blinking. “It’s not like it matters either way, right?”

Sylvia frowned. She was right, it didn’t.

“Look, all of you…” she turned back to the other contestants. “Right now, whatever’s happening, it’s obvious that we can’t do anything about it. So… we need to leave this up to Mary and Daddy to resolve. Okay?”

The notion that Holly might fix the problem never occurred to her, or anyone else, for that matter.

“I don’t like it, but Sylvia’s probably right,” Dani grumbled, scratching her cheek. “This whole mess, it’s… a big fucking frustration.”

“Listen, there’s something important you guys need to know,” Sylvia said firmly. “An Echo may be a twisted reflection of a contestant who went down a different transformation path thanks to a host veto… but they’re still the same person deep down. Echo wouldn’t do anything that Mary herself wouldn’t do, you see?”

Rose remembered her date earlier with Nick, and how Echo had seamlessly imitated Mary to the point of fooling even Nick himself.

“…Sylvia’s right,” she conceded. “That bitch might be fucking evil, imitating Mary like that after abducting her, but at her core, she’s still Mary.”

“Right!” Morgana nodded. “And Mary would never hurt Nick, that’s what you’re saying, right, Sylvia?”

Sylvia flinched. “…Well, um… m-maybe? I mean… I know what I said, but at the same time… echoes do change a lot from the original self, due to their transformations, so if Mary was capable of doing bad things to Daddy herself… I guess it could be possible?”

And just like that, all the hopefulness that her words had generated disappeared.

While Lynette gleefully watched them all stew, they worried over what would happen with Mary and Nick and the new host.

But while the other girls were fretting, Mary and Holly had no time to be worried themselves. Without hesitation, the two of them burst into the Master’s Suite, ready to confront Mary’s doppelganger head-on and rescue Nick from whatever trap she had put him in.

…Well, Mary was ready, anyway. Holly was a little distracted, trying not to imagine an evil Mary having Nick tied up in bondage and having her way with him, while she and the real Mary were trapped in her cage and forced to watch.

Luckily, anger and fear were pretty good at purging thoughts like that and clearing one’s mind.

“Nick!” Mary cried, pushing the door open and storming into the Master’s Suite. “Are you alright!? Nick! Did that bitch do something to you!?”

“My, how rude. What a horrible name to call someone else!”

Mary’s eyes landed on the dining room table. Her echo was sitting there, a cup of tea in her hand, looking as calm as could be.

Nick was nowhere to be seen.

Echo set down her teacup and raised her head, smiling placidly. “You shouldn’t say such hurtful words about yourself, Mary,” she chastised her sarcastically. “Being self-deprecating isn’t how you get ahead in the world.”

“Where is my husband?” Mary demanded, clenching her fists tightly and glaring at her other self. She was seeing red, not even registering Echo as her copy at this point.

Echo didn’t baulk at the other woman’s anger, and just smirked.

“I’m sorry, but he isn’t here right now,” she replied, picking up her cup and taking another sip. “I asked him to step away so the three of us could have some private girl time together. A nice tea party, just for us. Hmm?”

Mary seethed with rage. But no matter where she looked, she couldn’t spot her husband anywhere.