So go on and break your wings

Dakota left Kim and Nick to make their decision before going any further. With a smile, she presented Kim with a single gift.

A simple key. It was ornately decorated and glittered with gold and shiny black metal, and it was heavy in her hand.

“That right there is the key to the Proximity Palace,” she said with a sniff, looking down her nose at the other woman. “Use it on the door, and it will open up to you. You’ll take ownership of it for the rest of the night. …And I do mean ‘night’ to be clear.”

She glanced up at the sun, which was still relatively high in the sky.

“…The key doesn’t work until night is upon us. So you’ve got about an hour to make your decision if you would like to use it today, or wait until a later time. And curfew will come a few hours after that,” she reminded the two.

Nick tried to get a read on Dakota, but he couldn’t see anything he could latch onto. She was like liquid shadow, completely unreadable. It made him wince.

“Once you’ve opened the door, you may invite anyone you wish,” Dakota assured them both, looking pointedly at Kim as she said that. “If Nick were so inclined, he could insist you bring other women along… or you could even make that choice yourself.”

Her pale lips curled up into a sneer. “You did seem to have a lot of fun on your threesome with him last night…” Dakota’s voice trailed off, leaving the insinuation hanging in the air.

“To be clear,” Kim said, holding up the key, “if I use this and invite Nick, that means he’s spending the night with me, here, in the Proximity Palace? We aren’t going to be **** back to the Master’s Suite for curfew?”

She wouldn’t put it past Dakota to pull a trick like that. She wanted to know for sure before she committed to using her prize.

“Of course, it’s all part of the rules,” Dakota assured the suspicious woman. Her expression was remarkably professional for once. “You’ve won a free night in the Proximity Palace. The ‘free’ aspect means it supercedes any other obligations you might have to the harem, or even the master himself. If you wanted, you could use it to spend the night here all by yourself, without Nick’s presence at all. If you’d like to give him a night off.”

Her eyes flickered down, drinking in Kim’s enhanced figure. The curvy girl subconsciously pushed her chest out and stood up a little taller.

“…That would be such a waste, though,” Dakota noted with an amused smirk.

Kim scoffed and rolled her eyes. She had to agree, though, even if it was a pretty lame statement on Dakota’s part. No way was she going to give up her advantage, not a chance. She and Nick were going to be spending the night together; it was just a matter of where they would be.

“So if you’d like to invite him, it’s completely within your purview to do,” Dakota finished. “I’m not trying to trick you or take advantage of you, Kim. This was a bounty that you won. Enjoy yourself!” She gave Kim a wink, then turned to leave.

It was an unnecessary gesture; she could disappear with a flick of her cane. The reason she did it was made immediately apparent when she paused, then turned back to Kim.

“Oh… I almost forgot.” Dakota wore an innocent expression on her face, like she just so happened to think of one last thing to mention.

“Right,” Kim said icily.

“What is it?” Nick asked warily. Dakota kept playing games, and he didn’t like that. All he wanted at this point was for things to go well with Kim; but Dakota seemed to have a grudge against her.

“There’s a bounty I was planning to put up for later,” Dakota explained, conjuring up a slip of paper. “Thanks to your boon, you have the opportunity to grab it before the other girls get a chance, now that you’ve completed the one from before. If you’re interested, of course.”

She presented the poster for Kim’s perusal and Nick leaned in as well. Given the nature of the bounties he figured he should get a look, since it would involve him.

What he saw made his heart stop for a second. His eyes widened in shock.

“Th-that’s!”

ALLOW THE MASTER TO TIE YOU UP IN BED AND SPANK YOU

REWARD: 1 VP PER 50 SPANKS

As far as bounties went, it wasn’t so far out there. A little kinkier than they were used to, but not extremely so. Nick had gotten a few recreational spankings with some of the other girls, namely Gina, and Morgana on occasion. And Kim wasn’t necessarily opposed to it, either, but…

The real shock came from the reward.

“Why the stunned faces?” Dakota noted with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. “I think it’s quite a generous prize, all things considered.”

That was putting it mildly.

“Wait, wait, wait, you’re not serious, are you?” Kim shook her head in disbelief. “This reward, it’s like… you’re seriously willing to give out that much VP? Just for some spankings?”

Nick glanced at Kim with a raised eyebrow, alarmed that she thought anything about this reward would be “easy”. He knew she was used to taking shit jobs for money, but 50 spankings for 1 Victory Point was a terrible ratio!

She didn’t seem to realize that herself, though.

For once, Dakota was happy to inform her with a smile. “It’s more difficult than you might imagine,” she purred. “Yes, in theory, you could go from your current total of Victory Points, 94, all the way up to winning the show, but… let’s just think about how much VP that would actually be, shall we? You’d need 106 Victory Points to reach the threshold of 200 VP. And at a rate of 1 VP per 50 spanks, that would require you to receive a whopping 5300 spankings to get over the line. Not exactly a meager total, I’d say. But entirely doable… in theory. Was one of your part-time jobs working as a paid submissive, perchance?” She asked, already knowing the answer.

Kim went a little pale. Her hand drifted absently towards her butt, and she rubbed it gently. When put in those terms, suddenly she didn’t feel so confident. Even with her new padding and her enhanced strength, that was a lot to go through.

“Of course, no one says you have to take it,” Dakota pointed out, pulling the poster back. “If you’d like to pass it on to someone else, that’s entirely your right. I’m sure Gina would jump at the chance to claim this one!”

Dakota held her hand over her mouth and giggled.

Kim’s eyes flickered to Nick for a second. “What do you think?” She asked. “I mean, that’s a pretty big prize. In theory, anyway.”

“You’re not wrong there,” Nick agreed begrudgingly. “I’ve got no problem lending you a hand, if you want to take it.”

Kim couldn’t help but laugh at the phrasing of that. “Ha! Well… it’s not like I’d have to go for the whole 5300 spanks,” she pointed out. “I’ll just do enough to…”

Her voice trailed off and her eyes widened in realization. She snapped her head around to look at Dakota, and glared.

Dakota blinked innocently. “Oh?” She cooed. “Is something the matter? That’s a fine strategy, Kim, just taking as many spanks as you can handle. It’s not like you’ve got a transformation that compels you to see things through to the end, right?”

She held her hand over her mouth and gasped loudly in one of the fakest looks of “realization” Nick and Kim had ever seen. “Oh, wait! I completely forgot!”

Dakota didn’t even bother trying to hide her amused smirk as Kim just glared icily at her.

Nick swallowed. Right, Kim’s 100% Completion transformation. It forces her to go all the way when she sets out to do something. He remembered the second challenge and how Kim’s transformation had compelled her to complete the sets of any cards she got her hands on. It had been pretty rough for her, and she’d been wary of enabling it ever since then.

And now Dakota was dropping a bounty right in her lap that was meant to take advantage of that transformation of hers. What a dirty trick!

“So you’re saying if I take that bounty and try to claim it, my transformation will compel me to make Nick give me enough spanks to get me over the finish line, is that right?” Kim wasn’t amused. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Dakota. “And if I don’t achieve that, it’s gonna drive me crazy because I haven’t met my goal.”

Dakota blinked. “Am I saying that?”

Frankly, Kim had no idea WHAT Dakota was saying. She was pretty sure this was all a ploy by the host to get her rocks off seeing Kim get punished- that was obviously the reason she’d presented this bounty to her in the first place. But Dakota, even as spiteful as she was, wouldn’t ever be this clumsy. It was downright foolhardy to give Kim a bounty she was compelled to complete that would turn the game completely lopsided.

Did I really upset her that much this morning?

Nick was also perturbed by what was happening here. Dakota may have been enjoying this but he doubted that she’d give Kim an opportunity this good, certainly not one Kim would be compelled to complete. “Kim, what does the text of your transformation say exactly?” He asked, turning to the tomboy.

“Oh, good thinking, Nick, that’s using your brain!” Dakota chortled, nodding encouragingly. “Looks like somebody decided to stop being so complacent!”

Nick winced at her as Kim pulled up the text of her transformation.

• 100% Completion: Kim isn’t the kind of girl that leaves things undone. Whenever she’s doing something, she will feel compelled to see it through to the end. This includes sexual acts. If she sees the master has an erection due to her, she’ll find herself **** to help him cum just so she can be satisfied that he’s been taken care of, and won’t be able to think about anything else. (Hard Worker)

“Yeah, see? See it through to the end,” Kim said bitterly, shaking her head. “I’d feel compelled to do the whole thing. All 5300 spanks.”

Just thinking about it made her butt start to tingle.

“I don’t think so,” Nick said, shaking his head. “Remember the second challenge?”

“The card one? Yeah, of course I remember, I was compelled to gather all those sets of cards because of my transformation,” Kim recalled.

“Not a fun one at all,” Dakota sniffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I went to all that trouble of gathering four Kings, only for Rose and Holly to steal them right out from under me!”

Her irritated expression quickly faded into a smirk, however, and she leaned back on her cane. “Of course, I ended up getting the last laugh in the end,” she chuckled, recalling the elimination that followed.

Nick tried to block out Dakota’s taunts and focus on Kim. “Remember, that transformation didn’t compel you to complete EVERY set of cards,” he pointed out.

Kim shook her head. “No, just the ones I actually started… yeah…”

“So maybe that’s the secret to it.” Nick took another look at the bounty next. “It doesn’t make you eat all the food in the Banquet Hall, just what you put on your plate.”

“Indeed, Kim eats that much all on her own,” Dakota taunted, nodding encouragingly. For once, it seemed she was being supportive of Nick’s reasoning.

“So in that case, maybe we have the wrong idea about how this transformation works!” Kim was finally getting what Nick was saying. “Yeah… I think I see what you mean!” She nodded. “The restriction on the bounty is only 1 VP for every 50 spanks. I was getting to caught up with going for the whole thing, but I don’t need to!”

“Right,” Nick said, nodding in agreement. “Your transformation would just compel you to complete 50 spanks to get that 1 Victory Point. After that, it would wear off, I’m pretty sure. If I spanked you one more time, though, you’d be compelled to get another 49, but I’d know when to stop.”

He had plenty of experience with that regarding Gina.

“My my, how clever, Nick!” Dakota cradled her cheek in her hand and beamed at Nick with a proud smile on her face. “Look how far you’ve come! Working with the girls in your harem to take advantage of their transformations and get ahead…”

She wiped a fake tear from her eye. “So with that in mind… will you be taking this one, Kim?”

“Sure I will,” Kim said, snatching the bounty poster from Dakota and feeling the effects wash over her. “It’s just 50 spanks, I can do that, no problem.”

It wasn’t until the words left her lips that Kim realized just what had happened here.

“…Hey, wait! 50 spanks for a single Victory Point is a terrible bargain!” She exclaimed, crumpling up the paper in her hands. Why had she even wanted to take this bounty in the first place? She hadn’t been spanked even once before!

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic,” Dakota scoffed, rolling her eyes. “It’s not as bad as you think! Compared to 5300? 50 spanks is nothing!”

“But I didn’t have to do any!” Kim pointed out angrily. “For a single Victory Point? Come on!”

Dakota shrugged. “No one made you take the bounty,” she pointed out. “You did that all on your own, remember?”

Kim stewed in frustration because she knew Dakota was right. She had been so smug about finding the loophole in her transformation that she’d taken the bounty without giving it a second thought, even though the bounty was only really valuable if she got a massive coup of Victory Points from claiming it. And at only 50 spankings, that was unlikely to happen.

“…You tricked me.”

“I did not,” Dakota sniffed. “You can get all the VP your heart desires, right now. Assuming, of course, your body can handle it. And let’s not pretend that you can’t get any VP the normal way! All the old rules still apply, Kim.”

That was true enough, she supposed.

“Kim, if you don’t want it, it’s not like we have to do it,” Nick pointed out. “If you don’t claim the bounty, doesn’t it go back to the board or something?”

“In 24 hours, yes,” Dakota said, bristling slightly. Kim tensed too, wondering if Nick would put the pieces together about the last couple bounties or not.

He didn’t.

“So you see?” Dakota clapped her hands together. “You’re under no obligation to complete that bounty at all! You can just let it lapse!”

Kim appreciated Nick coming to her aid, but he was wrong. Because the bounty felt hot in her hand as something welled up inside her chest. She kept glaring at Dakota, knowing exactly what the other woman had done.

“…Because I took the bounty, my 100% Completion transformation is already making me want to do it,” Kim snapped, scowling. “Taking the bounty is tantamount to picking up one of those cards in that last challenge, or putting food on my plate.”

Kim had agreed to do it. Now she couldn’t take it back. Even if the rules provided plenty of avenues to do that, her own mental transformation did not.

She was getting spanked tonight. And she was getting VP for doing it. Probably not enough to make a difference.

Still, Kim had worked much harder jobs in the past for much less of a reward. So even if Dakota had manipulated her into volunteering to get spanked for pennies, Kim would make the best of it, because that was the kind of person she was.

“I’m not bothered by this,” Kim snapped, holding up the poster and waving it in Dakota’s face. “If you’re trying to make me back down, good fucking luck. I don’t give in that easily, you know!”

Dakota smirked. “I really hoped you wouldn’t,” she said, batting her eyelashes playfully. “I’m looking forward to seeing Nick take charge of you.”

“Dakota, that’s enough.”

The host jumped slightly and turned her attention to Nick, surprised. “Excuse me?”

“It’s one thing to give Kim a bounty that she’d enjoy, but what about my feelings on the matter?” He demanded. “You think I’ll just happily go along with spanking her just to amuse you? I thought this was supposed to be for my sake.”

A murky scowl crossed Dakota’s face for a moment.

Nick wasn’t done. “Kim clearly doesn’t want to get spanked at all,” he pointed out. “But her transformation is compelling her to go through with it. You’re not wrong when you say I’ve been complacent recently, but this? This is too much. I’m not going to just go along with Kim’s mental transformation forcing her to do something she doesn’t want to. You tricked her, Dakota, you really think I’d be fine with it?”

“And what would you have me do about that?” Dakota crossed her arms over her chest. “Wave my cane and remove Kim’s 100% Completion transformation so you can have a better time? Where would it end, Nick? I think you’ve forgotten that I’m the host here. While my job may be to bring you happiness, I can just break the rules if I think it will put a smile on your face. You want to know what your choice is? You can choose to go along with Kim’s request, and fulfill the bounty with her, or refuse. And if you refuse, well… nothing bad will happen. But it’s certainly going to drive that girl up the wall.”

Her eyes slid to Kim for a brief moment before returning to Nick. “Go ahead, hate me. I know you’re just dying to do that. But I wasn’t even the one who gave Kim that transformation, it was the audience. And the audience was no-doubt hoping for Kim to end up in sexy situations just like this one when they gave it to her. So now the choice is yours. What are you going to do about it?”

Dakota wasn’t wrong, which only irritated Nick more. “…The audience may have given her the transformation, but you’re the one who baited the trap,” he pointed out angrily.

“That’s right, I did,” Dakota said bluntly. There was no sense in denying reality. “And I would certainly do so again. It’s my obligation as the host to please you, however I see fit. You can either go along with it, or not. It’s up to you.”

Nick was being used, and he didn’t like it. Worst of all, he was being used to hurt someone he cared about. He really didn’t like that.

“Okay, enough!” Kim put her foot down, startling both of them. Dakota and Nick turned to her, mildly surprised.

A frustrated scowl was on the tomboy’s lips.

“Nick, I appreciate you standing up for me, but it’s fine,” she said, placing her hand on his arm. “If I wasn’t willing to get spanked, I wouldn’t have taken the bounty at all.”

“I didn’t **** it into her hands,” Dakota pointed out, not that Nick was swayed in the slightest by that technicality.

“Yeah, maybe I should have thought a little more about the cost-benefit analysis of this little exchange,” Kim admitted, waving the poster lightly. “But believe me, it’s fine. We don’t need to make a big stink about this.” She actually did think Nick was overreacting a little bit, if this was what set him off. “I’m still getting VP for it, after all, and who knows? Maybe I’ll actually like it. It’s just a couple of spankings, I’m a big girl. I can handle that.”

“Very mature of you, Kim,” Dakota said, nodding in approval.

“Shove it,” Kim snapped. “Anyway, Nick, there’s way worse stuff for you to be mad at her about than this. But… I appreciate it.”

Nick sighed. He looked at Dakota, whose face was strained with an unusual tension.

“…I get it,” he muttered, shaking his head. “You’re doing the same thing as always, Dakota. Believe me… I get it.”

That didn’t mean he had to like it.

“I’ll let you get to it then,” Dakota said, quietly excusing yourself. She flashed one last smirk to Kim before waving her cane and disappearing. “Enjoy the spankings.”

Kim rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.” This was only one of the decisions she had to make tonight. The key to the Proximity Palace burned hot in her hand as she looked up at the dilapidated shack and considered her options.