Transformation Results 1

At some point, since the votes had been sent out, Zoe had retrieved her previously discarded jacket and (somehow) managed to wrangle it back onto Beverly.

Beverly had mixed feelings about this development.

On one paw, the horrible itchy stuff covering her body was… well… horrible and itchy. On the other paw, the itchy stuff was warm. Comfortably warm, actually. And—

Sniff.

Beverly's nose twitched.

What was that?

Sniff sniff.

It smelled incredible.

She couldn't remember ever smelling anything quite like it before, but whatever it was had her mouth watering. She jerked her head around, trying to take in more of the delicious aroma coming from the itchy thing.

Before she could investigate further, Jack clapped his hands.

“Ladies, Mastress and other assorted entities, your results are in!”

Everyone turned to Jack, seeing that he had changed again, though the novelty of the event wasn’t exactly novel to them anymore.

This time, Jack was dressed like some flamboyant (though that part usually went without saying) gothic showman, wearing a black tailcoat over a purple waistcoat, topped off with an oversized bow tie with a skull brooch and a tall, skull-adorned top hat. Long purple hair now spilled down behind him, contrasting with his newly tan skin.

He cleared his throat and struck a pose.

“Once again, we’ll be going by introduction order, so without further ado…”

Jack swept the top hat from his head and plunged one hand inside, quickly withdrawing a small slip of paper with a flourish.

“Our first winner is… Bug Zapper!” the trickster announced, beaming at Ipheara.

Bug Zapper: A proper Harem member should find their Mastress captivating. Ipheara will become extremely sensitive to physical contact with the Mastress. Additionally, the Mastress will be able to will a stimulating charge of electricity through direct contact. (NPC)

The moth girl's antennae perked up.

“This one won with thirty-eight percent of the vote, followed closely by Doting Mother at thirty-four percent, with Farmer Physique coming last at twenty-eight.” Jack reached into his hat again and pulled out another strip of paper. He scrunched it into a ball before casually tossing it over his shoulder. “Well, it was short-lived, but it's time to say goodbye to the Farmer path and its transformations, Ipheara.”

“Uhm… bye?” Ipheara’s wings shifted awkwardly behind her as she spoke.

Jack chuckled, clearly amused by the response.

“Now, if you don’t mind, my dear…”

He extended his hand, as though offering Ipheara a handshake.

She wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but hesitantly reached out to meet him. The second their fingers grazed, Jack snatched his hand back to his side before Ipheara even had the chance to process the contact.

Ipheara winced.

The action almost reminded her of home, when people would try to act friendly only for her to notice that little moment of discomfort when she got too close. After all, there wasn't anybody else quite like her in the village—

“How does it feel?”

Jack's voice interrupted her thoughts.

“How does what feel?” Ipheara asked timidly.

“Your new transformation, of course!”

“Oh… right. Yes, my transformation…”

Ipheara closed her eyes and focused.

She felt…

Nothing.

“I-I don't feel any different?”

“Oh, of course not! It requires your Mastress' involvement. Let's test it out, shall we?”

Before Ipheara could object, Jack took her by the shoulders and swivelled her around until she was facing Robin.

“How about a simple handshake? That shouldn't be so bad, right?”

He gave Ipheara a gentle push forward.

“Oh, Robin~! Would you indulge the lovely Ipheara's curiosity?”

“Oh! Yeah, right, sure.”

Robin was clearly still mentally catching up. Their attention had been almost entirely occupied by the changes they had recently experienced within their own body and the flood of unfamiliar sensations that came with them. Still, one look at Ipheara was enough to understand what Jack wanted, and they held out their hand.

Ipheara hesitated before taking it.

The instant soft flesh met smooth exoskeleton—

Zzt!

Ipheara jolted.

Her knees nearly buckled beneath her as a sudden wave of warmth and tingling sensation shot through her. Her wings sprang outward, antennae standing rigidly upright as her grip involuntarily tightened around Robin's hand.

“Oh~!”

And then the transformation's other effect became apparent.

Even something as simple as Robin's hand resting against hers suddenly felt overwhelmingly intense. Ipheara's face rapidly turned pink as she stared at their joined hands, seemingly forgetting for several seconds that anyone else was present.

Robin blinked.

“Ipheara? Are you okay?”

Ipheara's antennae twitched.

“Mmmmm…”

Jack quickly stepped between them.

“I think that's enough experimentation for now.” He commented as he separated their hands.

Ipheara remained exactly where she was, one hand still hovering in the air as though Robin were holding it, her wings giving a faint flutter behind her.

Jack wagged a finger at Robin.

“And just so we're clear, I gave you that first little shock for free. Future charges will require actual intent and a little effort on your part, so don't go getting trigger-happy, alright?”

Robin gave a slow nod before glancing back toward Ipheara.

Ipheara still looked thoroughly dazed.

Her left antennae gradually curled downward as a content little hum escaped her.

“Hmmm…”

“Moving swiftly along before our moth friend melts into the floor, our next winner is… Among Us!”

Itzel's tentacles perked up at the announcement.

“Among Us won with thirty-seven percent of the vote, while Whatever You Want and Child of the Stars both came in second and third, respectively, at thirty-two and thirty-one percent of the vote,” Jack announced, holding up the result for everyone to see. “And since your last place option was so close, we won't be discarding any paths here, folks! Congratulations, Itzel!”

“Thanks?” Itzel questioned.

Jack turned the slip over so Itzel could read about her transformation more clearly.

Among Us: Itzel will be able to shift to her human form at will, but she’ll have to orgasm to trigger the change. Her arousal will build as long as she’s in her human form, and another orgasm is required to return to her alien form. (Weird Science.)

Itzel wasn't entirely sure how she felt about that.

On the one tentacle, being able to look human without her mask was incredible. She'd spent years relying on it whenever she needed to blend in, always having to keep the device close and make sure it was functioning properly. Now she could accomplish the same thing entirely on her own, without relying on a piece of cloaking technology.

On the other tentacle—though she had plenty more to spare—the activation condition was extremely inconvenient.

Still, she supposed it could have been worse.

“So I don't need the Mask anymore,” Itzel said, turning the result over in her tentacles. “But I can't exactly change back and forth whenever I please, either.”

“Oh no, you certainly can; an orgasm will trigger the change at any time,” Jack beamed.

Itzel stared at him in response, her orange orbs creating a look of not being amused.

Jack's grin only widened.

“Would you like a demonstration?”

Itzel hesitated. There was an obvious reason to say no, especially after that display with Ipheara, but unfortunately it was competing against something that had gotten her into trouble countless times before.

Curiosity.

“...Sure.”

“Splendid!”

Jack offered his hand. Itzel regarded it suspiciously for a moment before wrapping one of her tentacles around his fingers.

The reaction was immediate.

A sudden, overwhelming sensation swept through her entire body, an orgasm unlike anything she had ever experienced, every tentacle tensing simultaneously as Itzel's thoughts briefly scattered. Before she could properly recover however, the sensation changed into something far stranger.

Her entire body felt constricted.

Itzel's eyes widened.

Her tentacles were twisting around one another, coiling even.

They pulled closer and closer together, overlapping until she couldn't tell where one ended and another began. Dozens of familiar sensations blurred into one another as her entire understanding of her own body became increasingly useless.

“What the—”

She tried moving one tentacle, only for an entire mass of them to move as one.

Then there was another strange pull, and suddenly—

Less.

Far, far less.

Itzel froze.

The details of this transformation suddenly made themselves painfully clear in her mind; this was nothing like her mask. She wasn't just going to look human; she was getting the full package.

She could certainly still feel some appendages, but nowhere near as many as there should have been. She experimentally tried flexing one of the strange new things and felt several tiny extremities move at its end.

She looked down to find the source of this sensation.

Five fingers curled inward.

She opened them.

Closed them.

Opened them again.

“Those are fingers.” Itzel let out, matter-of-factly, causing Robin to snort from somewhere nearby.

Itzel raised the offending appendage higher and followed it with her eyes.

Fingers attached to a hand. A hand attached to a wrist. A wrist attached to an arm.

“I have an arm.” She hurriedly checked the other side. “I have two arms.”

“You say that like it's surprising,” Zoe said.

“I normally have significantly more than two of everything!”

Itzel began examining herself with increasing fascination. Everything felt wrong. Her weight was distributed differently, and she was suddenly aware of vast stretches of space around herself that she couldn't casually stick a tentacle into.

There were so many fewer limbs. It was bizarre.

She'd masqueraded as a human for years, of course, but the Mask had only ever been cloaking technology. It changed what everyone else saw; underneath it she'd still been herself. She'd still moved like herself, felt like herself, and interacted with the world through the same mass of tentacles she'd possessed her entire life.

But this?

This was completely different.

For the first time, Itzel wasn't an alien who looked human; she actually felt human.

And, ironically enough, it was the most alien experience of her life.

From the perspective of everyone watching, the transformation was a strange one to behold, a writhing mass of blue tentacles scrunching in on itself, twisting and compressing into an increasingly tight ball until, with one final contraction, out popped a short Latina girl wearing little more than an oversized band shirt that luckily covered any naughty bits that otherwise would be exposed.

And she was short. Very short. She couldn't have been five feet tall, probably sitting somewhere just beneath it. Her sapphire-blue skin had become smooth and tan, and the sheer mass that had once been distributed across dozens upon dozens of tentacles had been reorganised into an unmistakably human figure. She had a slim waist, a moderate chest and surprisingly broad hips, leading into a thick, sturdy pair of legs which, combined with her new incredibly curvaceous backside, accounted for a frankly baffling amount of her new body weight—well, baffling for a creature that had no organs heavier than its brain previously. All of it was topped off by an adorable face framed by long black hair, leaving almost nothing that visibly connected this girl to the mass of tentacles standing there moments before.

Almost nothing, anyway.

Her eyes remained almost exactly the same shade of unnaturally bright orange, only now they were shaped like those of an ordinary human, though it still stood out compared to her totally normal appearance otherwise

“Okay…” Itzel murmured, turning her hands over and watching the tendons shift beneath the skin. “This is really weird.”

“Whooooo, look at the legs on her,” Leanne said with a whistle; obviously, this wasn't the first time she had seen Itzel's ‘legs’, but they weren't real before, and also weren't so… exposed.

“Really not the time, Leanne!” Itzel turned and shouted, causing her to wobble.

Itzel glanced down, noticing her new legs twisted strangely.

“Oh, right, these things...”

She lifted one to untangle it, like she had done many times with her tentacles in the past.

Her other knee immediately buckled.

“SHIT—!”

Itzel pitched forward and hit the floor in an undignified heap.

There was a moment of silence.

She slowly pushed herself upward on trembling arms, staring back at her legs as though they'd deliberately sabotaged her.

“These are awful!”

“You've had them for about ten seconds! At least give them a chance!” Robin choked out while failing to suppress a laugh.

“They're heavy! They're rigid! There's only two of them!” Itzel protested, awkwardly trying to arrange her legs underneath herself. “How the hell do you people balance on these things?”

“I don't know; we just do?” Robin exclaimed Incredulously.

“I don't like them.”

“You've been pretending to have them for years; surely you picked up something?” Zoe chimed in, clearly amused herself.

“Pretending was so much easier!”

“Uh, Itzel?” Zoe interrupted her whining.

“What?”

She pointed downward. “You aren’t exactly leaving much to the imagination down there you know.”

Itzel followed her finger, looked down at herself, and froze.

“Oh...”

A faint flush crept across her face as she immediately tugged the oversized band shirt as far down as it would go, awkwardly folding her unfamiliar legs beneath herself in an attempt to preserve what little modesty it offered.

Leaving the newly human girl to her own devices, Jack turned his attention to the next contestant in line.

“Zoe! I think it's time we find out what transformation you got, don't you agree? Of course you do. Now then, let's see…”

Jack plunged his hand back into the hat and rummaged around before withdrawing another slip of paper, which he promptly unfolded and read aloud.

“Flygande Jakob Pizza takes the victory with thirty-nine percent of the vote, followed by Romance Linguist at thirty-three percent, and finally There Is More Than Meets the Eye, trailing behind at twenty-eight percent.”

Once again, Jack reached into the hat and produced another strip of paper, scrunching it into a ball before casually tossing it over his shoulder.

“And with that, we bid farewell to that particular path!”

Then, without another word, Jack turned away from Zoe and started towards Beverly.

Zoe stared after him. “So what happens now?”

Jack stopped mid-step.

“With what?”

“My transformation? The whole ‘mix of leftover transformations’ thing? What am I actually getting?” Zoe gestured at the slip of paper still in his hand.

“Oh, that.” Jack gave her a dismissive wave and resumed walking towards Beverly.

“We'll get to it.” Jack affirmed while stuffing the slip in his breast pocket.

“What do you mean 'we'll get to it?"

Reaching into his hat, Jack continued, ignoring Zoe's question, “And now for our resident heiress! With thirty-seven percent of the vote, our winner is Product Recall!”

Product Recall: Beverly gains knowledge on how to prepare and cook all products her family's company produces. (Heiress)

“Dramatic Reenactment follows at thirty-two percent, while Scent Marking comes in just behind at thirty-one!” Jack announced. “And since those last two were separated by a measly one percent, once again we shan't be discarding a path. Aren't you lucky?”

Beverly growled as Jack approached.

He leaned down and reached towards her head.

beaver snarl

Beverly lunged for his hand, but Jack had clearly anticipated the attempted bite and pulled it away before her teeth could find their mark.

“Bah-ah-ah!” Jack wagged a finger at her. “You do realise that sort of aggression could be met with a rather severe penalty if I were a less benevolent host?”

The chuckle disappeared from his voice as he stared down at her.

Beverly glared back.

For several seconds neither moved.

Then, seemingly understanding something that hadn't needed to be said aloud, Beverly's aggression abruptly subsided.

“There's a good girl.”

Jack reached down again. This time he ignored her head entirely and instead grabbed the front of the jacket Zoe had somehow managed to wrestle onto the beaver girl. He pulled the zipper the rest of the way up.

“There. Looking much better Beverly. Now, if you don't mind, I think it's time we got you nice and transformed like the other girls, hey?”

Beverly looked up at him hesitantly. After another brief exchange of glances, she finally bowed her head.

Jack smiled and reached down to give her hair a little ruffle before leaning close and whispering something quietly into her ear. Whatever he said caused Beverly's head to twitch.

Then Jack stepped back.

Beverly's back arched, her head jerked towards the sky, and the rest of her body suddenly went rigid as a startled wheeze escaped her lungs.

From the outside, it looked concerning, almost like some strange seizure.

Inside Beverly's head, however, an entirely different story was unfolding.

She was being filled with knowledge beyond anything she could have possibly ever possessed before.

Her eyes twinkled in the way only the eyes of a beaver suddenly understanding the precise culinary properties of chicken flesh mangled into the shape of a cartoon dinosaur could twinkle.

A whole new universe had opened inside her brain.

Chicken.

Pork.

Turkey.

Beef.

Cod.

Salmon.

Breaded. Minced. Filleted. Fried, grilled, barbecued, baked, broiled, sous-vide—

Temperatures. Timings. Moisture retention. Oil composition. Seasonings. Sauces. Marinades. Resting periods. Serving temperatures. Presentation.

She understood.

She understood everything.

The knowledge of the infinite was within her.

The path towards the perfect Perdue-centred dish stretched out before Beverly like a tangible road she could simply step forward and follow. No, not one road—thousands. Millions! Bajillions!

Branching possibilities extending into unending culinary futures, each subtly different from the last.

Everything made sense.

Every ingredient had its place.

This was it.

This was enlightenment.

This was—

“What the FUCK did you do to her!?”

Nyx's voice shattered Beverly's epiphany.

Oh, right. Noisy lady is still here. Of course she had to ruin it.

Well, that was approximately what Beverly was thinking, only significantly more beavery.

“Oh, nothing to worry about,” Jack replied casually. “I'm simply fulfilling her transformation. Knowledge of this calibre can be a little much for such a primitive brain, so I even gave her a teensy boost to make sure she could properly retain everything and still be able to form new memories and the like, you know how it is.”

“But I thought the transformation just taught her how to cook her family's products?” Robin chimed in.

“Ah! But you see…”

Jack held up the slip of paper and tapped one finger against the description.

“It says right here, ‘Beverly gains knowledge on how to prepare and cook all products her family's company produces.’ The problem is that it never specifies what degree of knowledge she's supposed to receive.”

He grinned.

“So I thought it best to simply give her all of it. Much simpler than filtering through all that info.”

“But there's only so many ways you can cook nuggets,” Ulyssa scoffed. “Surely there can't be that much to know?”

Jack slowly turned towards her and tilted his head to the side.

“Oh, you'd be surprised. The optimal position in a fryer or oven, precise cooking time, ideal resting period, whether to serve them whole or cut, plating arrangements, complementary sauces, how each method affects texture and moisture—”

He turned back towards Beverly, who was now staring at him with a directed intensity that was previously unthinkable from the feral girl.

“And that's merely nuggets! Her family's company produces hundreds of different foods, each with countless methods of preparation, and countless variations upon those.”

Jack gestured grandly towards her.

“This plucky little beaver has stumbled upon quite the goldmine of a transformation!”

Beverly gave an enthusiastic chirp, tilting her head to the side almost cutely, before turning back to Nyx with a frown.

Jack too turned to the gentle giant across the way.

“The fuck are you looking at now?”

Well, maybe not gentle, but certainly giant… in more ways than one.

“Well, well, I gotta tell ya, Nyx—”

Jack approached with an easy smile and raised one hand towards her shoulder.

Nyx's eyes immediately snapped to it as she tensed up.

Jack stopped.

“Ah.”

Jack withdrew his hand.

“Right. Of course. My mistake.”

Then, rather unusually, Jack changed, not into a totally new form, but only a slight variation on the last.

Instead, Jack's body simply shifted beneath the clothes; his frame had narrowed and reshaped until the gothic showman standing before Nyx had become a showwoman. Even the outfit seemed to adapt rather than disappear entirely: the same blacks, purples, and magentas remained, only now arranged into a striking magenta dress beneath the familiar dark tailcoat, with the skull brooch and ridiculous top hat remaining exactly where they belonged. Long purple hair cascaded behind her, and her newly feminine frame was tall, elegant, and undeniably gorgeous.

Nyx stared.

Jack smiled.

Nyx continued staring.

Her eyes briefly travelled down Jack's new form before returning to her face.

“Better?”

Nyx elected not to respond; instead, she was focusing on the rising heat beneath her skirt, trying to convince herself this wasn’t an admittance of defeat, though the more she looked, the more she liked.

Maybe this Jack person wasn't so bad.

No. Nope. Absolutely not. She was getting distracted. Jack was still the person currently holding three pieces of paper that could potentially screw with her body in ways she hadn't agreed to, and looking gorgeous didn't suddenly make that okay.

Still…

Nyx supposed she could stand slightly closer.

And as if reading her mind, Jack stepped forth and dramatically fanned three slips of paper between her fingers, clearly having won the battle of wits.

“Now, Nyx, yours is a particularly interesting case. An exceptionally rare circumstance, in fact! Right down to the very last vote, every single one of your options received precisely the same score.”

Nyx raised an eyebrow.

“A perfect three-way tie!” Jack held the results up one by one.

“Towering! Putting the Ass in Assassin! Midnight Oil! The audience wants a bit of height, a bit of booty and a bit of nocturnal body-swapping nonsense. An eclectic selection!”

Nyx stared at the papers.

“So what happens?”

Jack's smile widened.

“That's the interesting part, there isn't exactly a standard procedure for this!”

Nyx's expression brightened for the first time since the conversation began.

“Well, shit. Guess that means I get off free for this one.”

She was joking.

Mostly.

Though there was definitely some hope behind it.

Who the fuck even voted on these things? Nyx swore to God, if she ever found out who—

“No, no, no, that won't do, Nyx.”

There went that hope.

Jack paced slowly in front of her, tapping the three slips against her palm.

“The audience has made their desires perfectly clear. A bit of swapping, a bit of booty, a bit of height…”

She stopped.

Her eyes travelled up Nyx.

And up.

And up.

Nyx was already towering over practically everyone present.

“Though…” Jack tilted her head. “You are already the tallest person here.”

“No shit.”

“Towering almost feels redundant…” Jack mused.

“Great. Throw it away.”

Jack's eyes suddenly widened.

“Oh! Oh, that's perfect! What a wonderful idea Nyx!”

Like a lightbulb had gone off inside her head, Jack perked up and abruptly scrunched the Towering slip into a ball.

Instead, she held the remaining two transformations up in front of Nyx.

“Now what to do with these…

“Don't even fucking think about giving me that stupid body-swapping thing,” Nyx warned, thrusting an accusatory finger towards her. “This is my fucking body, you hear that?”

“Loud and clear!”

Then two pieces of paper touched; what followed was a flash of brilliant green light.

Nyx recoiled.

“What did you just—”

Where Jack had previously held two slips, there was now only one.

Jack admired her handiwork.

“What. Did. You. Do?” Nyx's eye twitched.

Rather than answer, Jack thrust the newly created transformation into Nyx's hands.

“Read!”

Nyx snatched it away.

Putting the oil in the ass: Nyx is a complete top and has no interest in ever putting her bottom to use, so why even have it? Well, to show off of course! Her ass and hips will grow to be quite noticeable, even taking on an oily sheen when exposed to the air. But when it's of no use to her (during sleeping hours), another contestant will receive this transformation in Nyx’s stead until she wakes up. (Nightlife + Assassin)

Nyx stared at the paper.

“You kept the fucking swapping part,” she growled

“Well, I only kept a version of the swapping part.”

“I—”

Nyx stopped.

Something was happening.

A pressure was building inside her, almost like a cramp, only far more intense and mixed with the deep, burning ache she associated with an especially brutal workout. Grimacing, she instinctively reached back to soothe the afflicted area, only for her hand to sink into plush flesh.

What?

Nyx froze.

She didn't have plush flesh. She'd been rock-solid for years.

Yet there it was beneath her palm, unmistakably soft, and while she stood there trying to process that fact, there seemed to be more and more of it. The growing mass steadily pushed her fingers farther apart until she involuntarily squeezed, testing the unfamiliar softness beneath her hand.

God, that felt good.

Maybe just a little more…

Her fingers dug deeper into the unfamiliar softness, proving further that, yes, this really was part of her now. She shifted her grip, feeling the new weight move beneath her palm before giving it another curious squeeze. It was such a bizarre contrast to the hard muscle she was accustomed to that she couldn't quite stop testing it.

Honestly, the distraction was almost enough to make her forget the transformation was still happening at all. The strange new sensation was at least doing a fantastic job of distracting her from that awful cramping pain.

Wait.

Nyx blinked.

The cramping had already stopped.

Then why the hell was she still standing there squeezing her own ass?

She opened her eyes and scanned the room, only to find plenty of eyes already fixed on her. Some looked surprised, others embarrassed, and a few were making absolutely no effort to hide their appreciation.

Nyx grinned.

Well, if everyone was going to stare, she might as well give them something worth staring at.

She shifted her stance and struck an exaggerated pose, proudly showing off the results of her transformation. Her sister always said to make the best of a bad situation.

Well… it wasn't really that bad.

Actually, she rather liked it.

It just felt like she should be annoyed about it, and that was close enough.

“Drink it all in, ladies, if you're good girls maybe you could get a handful of this while getting a mouthful of me”

Zoe visibly cringed at the display, while Robin did a double take. They weren’t exactly sure what they’d expected from Nyx's transformation, but they had to admit the new look suited her.

Leanne, however, was practically drooling. Nyx had already been one of her favourite fuckbuddies, but somehow she'd managed to become even more attractive in the space of a few seconds.

While Leanne was busy staring, Jack seized the opportunity to make her way towards the sleazy surfer.

“And that brings us neatly to Leanne!”

“Huh?”

Jack produced the next result.

“Pleasure Transceiver! Coming in with thirty-nine percent of the vote! Right Here on the Couch trails behind at thirty-one percent, while Tip of My Tongue takes thirty percent. Those last two are practically neck-and-neck, so no paths will be scrapped this time!”

Pleasure Transceiver: Any pleasure felt by any of the other harem members is sent to Leanne at 1/2 strength. Conversely, any pleasure Leanne feels is sent to everyone else at 1/10 strength. (Hedonist)

Leanne read the description, her brow furrowing.

“So… what does that actually mean?”

“I’m sure everyone will be able to get a feel for it in good time, my dear,” Jack said as she patted Leanne on the shoulder.

Almost immediately, Leanne felt an unfamiliar yet pleasant warmth wash over her. It wasn’t particularly intense, but it was distinctive enough to make her straighten in surprise.

“Oh god~ what was that?” Leanne purred, clearly excited by whatever it was.

“Well, it seems some pleasure has already been transmitted to you, my dear,” Jack replied, looking around theatrically. “I wonder where from?”

Leanne followed the trickster’s gaze around the room until she locked eyes with Nyx. Others did the same.

Nyx was awkwardly adjusting her underwear and skirt, trying to accommodate the extra meat packed into them. Then she locked eyes with Leanne. She hadn't meant to grab her shaft like that, but she was just so hard it was unavoidable, especially when she was this horny.

“Watcha lookin’ at?” Nyx challenged, glaring at the group.

“Ohhhh…” Leanne said in a sultry tone, finally understanding how this all worked.

“So I could repay the favour, eh?” Leanne said while reaching up to her chest to grab a stiff nipple; she gave it an experimental squeeze.

This instantly caused every harem member in the colosseum to feel a tiny spark of pleasure in their own chests, which was especially shocking for Itzel, who had zero nipples until all of 5 minutes ago.

“Bitch watch what you’re doing with those things,” Ulyssa spat at her, which just earned a shrug from Leanne.

Nyx, meanwhile, looked conflicted.

On the one hand, she and Leanne were cool. Really cool. If Leanne wanted to mess around with her a little, Nyx usually wasn't going to complain.

On the other hand, she can do that any time she wants, and that's sorta sketchy, like she’d probably be ok with it, but what if she wasn’t?

This was making her head spin.

“Well, I think that's enough experimentation for now, Leanne. Time for our penultimate contestant: Ulyssa!” Jack chimed in, neatly cutting through Nyx's increasingly complicated train of thought. “Are you excited for your big change?”

This earned little more than a bored glare from Ulyssa.

She'd seen what had happened to the other girls, and maybe this could be a little exciting if any of her options were actually good. Unfortunately, as far as she was concerned, her choices basically amounted to being better with her hands, gaining cosplay powers, or having her mood messed with, none of which were particularly appealing.

The hands one could come in handy, she supposed.

Heh.

Come in handy.

If anything, she wished she'd gotten something to look like that tentacle alien. Now that would've been interesting. Dozens of arms, climbing walls, grabbing shit from across the room.

Though the tentacle alien was pretty boring-looking now too.

Ulyssa glanced over at the very human Itzel, who was still getting acquainted with the concept of having knees.

What a fucking downgrade.

Jack, meanwhile, had already reached into her hat again.

“And our penultimate result! Ulyssa, congratulations! Four Job Fiesta! takes the lead with thirty-eight percent of the vote!”

Ulyssa's attention reluctantly returned to the host.

“Self Destruct follows at thirty-two percent, while Hecatoncheires trails just behind at thirty!” Jack continued, before producing a second slip. “Which unfortunately means Classical Roots has swung just a little too low this round.”

She crumpled the paper and casually tossed it away.

“Say goodbye!”

Ulyssa watched the ball of paper bounce across the marble without much thought.

“Such bravery in the face of loss.” Jack mocked before turning the winning result around.

Four Job Fiesta!: By wearing a costume, Ulyssa gains abilities themed to the outfit. The costume is permanently modified with added sex appeal. (Freelancer)

Ulyssa stared at the result and shrugged.

“How does it feel, Ulyssa?” Jack asked.

“What do you want from me?” Ulyssa gestured down at herself. “I'm not wearing a costume.”

“I wouldn't say so. What is a uniform if not a costume we wear to play the role our job requires?”

Ulyssa rolled her eyes in response. “This isn't even a uniform though. I do DineDash; these are just my clothes.”

“Yes, the clothes you wear every time you work. Seems uniform enough to me,” Jack explained.

Ulyssa felt a chill run across her body.

“Well, it's not like I've gained any new knowledge, so I don't see how that's true.”

“You already know how to be a DineDash driver, my dear. Obviously it wouldn't feel all too different..”

Ulyssa stared at her.

“Then what have you been yammering on about this entire time?”

Jack just blinked cutely in return.

Ulyssa rubbed her arms.

Why was she so fucking cold all of a sudden?

It hadn't exactly been warm in the colosseum before, but the difference was getting ridiculous. A minute ago she'd been perfectly comfortable. Now it felt like the open air was rubbing against practically her entire body.

Her eyes slowly travelled downward.

Her cargo pants were gone.

In their place was a pair of tiny cycling shorts, shortened so drastically that calling them clothing felt wrong. Her tube top hadn't fared much better; the transformation had taken a piece of clothing that already wasn't particularly substantial and made it even less.

“Where the fuck are my clothes?” Ulyssa growled.

“You're wearing them,” Jack clapped back. “And might I say they suit you rather well. I'm fairly sure the audience is enjoying the new look also.”

“You've got to be fucking kidding me…”

Ulyssa laughed to herself.

She wasn't ashamed of her body by any means. She knew she was good-looking and wasn't exactly afraid of showing it off if it suited her, at job interviews and the like.

But being forced into this poor fucking excuse for an outfit was something else entirely.

“Everything alright there, Ulyssa?” Robin stepped forward hesitantly.

Ulyssa's head snapped towards them.

“Is everything alright? IS EVERYTHING FUCKING ALRIGHT?”

Her voice became painfully loud, a manic laugh breaking through between breaths.

“What the FUCK does it look like, Robin?”

Robin winced, their expression falling slightly as they backed away.

Ulyssa barely seemed to notice; she was laughing properly now, shoulders shaking as she stared down at herself again.

“Holy shit! This is fucking perfect!” she barked, grabbing at the sides of her shorts. “Out of all the fucking magical bullshit you could've done, you looked at me and went, ‘You know what this bitch needs? Less pants! More cleavage!’”

“Well, technically the Audience looked at you and—”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!”

Jack obediently closed her mouth.

For all of two seconds

“I will say, though, your assessment isn't entirely accurate.

Ulyssa's laughter stopped.

“Oh, then please enlighten me.”

Jack perked up at the invitation.

“The outfit modification is merely a side effect! The important part is that costumes now allow you to take on abilities associated with whatever role they represent. Your current ensemble represents a delivery driver.”

“I'm already a delivery driver.”

“Precisely!”

“So it gave me nothing.”

“Well…”

Jack rocked slightly on her heels.

“You are already quite accomplished at carrying food from one location to another.”

Ulyssa stared at her.

“So it gave me nothing.”

“I prefer to think of this particular outfit as having encountered a redundancy issue.”

“A redundancy issue.” Ulyssa repeated back.

“Yes! Imagine teaching a fish how to swim. Or teaching Ipheara how to fly. Or teaching Beverly how to—”

Jack glanced towards Beverly.

“…be a beaver.”

Beverly chirped.

“Exactly! She gets it Ulyssa!”

Ulyssa's left eye twitched.

Jack, apparently deciding that the safest response was to keep talking, gestured enthusiastically towards Ulyssa’s clothes.

“But that's what makes the transformation interesting! Put on something completely different and you'll receive abilities to match. Dress like a firefighter, you get firefighter abilities. Dress like a knight, knight abilities. Astronaut, astronaut abilities. Magician—”

“I don't want to be a fucking astronaut or a magician; I want to be a fucking delivery driver, wear normal clothes, and feed my brother!”

Jack opened her mouth.

Ulyssa immediately jabbed a finger towards her.

“And don't you fucking dare give me some smart-ass answer about improved mobility or aerodynamics or whatever the fuck you're about to say.”

Jack slowly closed her mouth.

Ulyssa made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a growl.

“You are such an insufferable fucking—”

Jack looked at her. The playful smile disappeared.

Her posture didn't change. She simply stared directly at Ulyssa.

Ulyssa stopped.

The remaining insult died somewhere between her brain and her mouth.

For a few seconds, the two simply stared at each other.

Jack's face remained eerily blank.

Ulyssa swallowed.

Finally, Ulyssa's shoulders lowered.

She looked Jack directly in the eyes.

“Fuck you.”

There was a beat of silence.

Then Jack's enormous grin returned as though someone had flipped a switch.

“Much better!”

Jack's attention finally shifted towards the last contestant awaiting her result. She sauntered over to Eleana, still wearing that pleased smile from her exchange with Ulyssa, before clasping her hands behind her back.

“Now, now, Eleana, how are we feeling about our prospects here?” Jack asked brightly, leaning forward with interest. “Any particular expectations?”

Eleana hummed thoughtfully, one finger coming to rest against her cheek.

“Well, if the audience is still anything like I remember, I'm sure I'll be getting something that has me submit further to my Mastress,” she mused. Far from sounding concerned by the possibility, her lips curled into a small, eager smile. “Which would align best with Patron to Pet, I suppose.”

Jack's grin widened.

“Well, prepare to have your expectations met, because From Patron to Pet has won with thirty-nine percent of the vote!”

With a dramatic flick of her wrist, Jack flourished the result in front of Eleana.

“Tea Time trails behind at thirty-three percent, while Class in Session received a mere twenty-eight, making it the least popular choice of the entire pool!”

Eleana's eyes immediately lit up.

“Oooh, how exciting,” she cooed, clasping her hands together.

Jack paused.

That wasn't quite the reaction she'd been expecting.

Most of the contestants had responded to their results with some mixture of apprehension, anger, embarrassment, or outright panic. Eleana, meanwhile, looked like she'd just been told she'd won at bingo.

Still, Jack cleared her throat and presented the result for everyone to see.

From Patron to Pet: A being of infinite power limiting herself for the sake of a Harem Hotel lark? Well, actions have consequences. Her immense eldritch power is transferred to the Mastress and Eleana shall be their first contracted witch. The more the Mastress understands the eldritch power, the more is available for Eleana via pact magick. The Mastress can gain that understanding by boring instruction or sexual osmosis (Eldritch Being)

Robin read the description, as they did their brow furrowed.

“Wait…” Robin muttered, looking up from the slip towards Eleana, then pointed uncertainly between the older woman and herself. “Your immense eldritch power?”

“Yes, of course,” Eleana replied pleasantly.

“Is being transferred to me?”

“Yes.”

“All of it?”

“Well…” Eleana glanced towards Jack. “I imagine our lovely host will be keeping enough of a leash on things to prevent you from accidentally turning the colosseum inside out and whatnot.”

“Correctamundo!” Jack chirped, raising a finger.

Robin's expression didn't improve.

Eleana's did.

In fact, she seemed positively thrilled by the entire situation, practically bouncing on her heels as she looked between Robin and the transformation description.

“Oh, this is wonderful!”

Robin stared at her incredulously.

“You're. Losing. Your. Powers,” Robin pointed out, slowly enunciating each word as though Eleana might somehow have missed that rather important part of the description.

“Oh I've had them for ages.”

Eleana merely shrugged, a nostalgic little smile spreading across her face.

“I've seen what they can do. I've seen what I can do,” she explained, idly counting examples off on her fingers. “I've poked holes in reality, wandered through places that don't technically exist, spoken with things whose names require entirely too many mouths to pronounce…”

Her hand gradually lowered.

“It was all terribly exciting the first few times.”

Eleana's expression softened. She simply looked… content.

“But eventually, unlimited possibility becomes surprisingly predictable,” Eleana continued with a wistful sigh. “There's only so many times you can bend reality before you stop wondering whether you can and start wondering whether you can be bothered.”

Robin looked back at the description.

“So you're genuinely okay with this?”

“My dear, I've had my fun.”

Eleana stepped a little closer, regarding Robin with an almost grandmotherly warmth.

“Perhaps it's time all that power found somewhere new to live.”

Robin slowly pointed at Themself. “Here?”

"Why not?” Eleana chuckled.

“Because I don't know what I'm doing!”

“Exactly!”

Eleana's sudden enthusiasm made Robin recoil slightly.

“You're young! You're curious!” Eleana continued, gesturing excitedly towards her. “You still look at impossible things and ask why. You haven't had centuries for the impossible to become mundane yet. Can you imagine how much there is for you to discover?”

Robin's mouth hung open for a moment.

“I can certainly imagine how quickly I could accidentally kill everyone.”

“Oh, don't be silly,” Eleana replied with a dismissive wave.

Robin visibly relaxed.

“Jack wouldn't let you.”

Robin immediately tensed again. “Not helping Miss Rosovich.”

Eleana covered her mouth as she giggled.

Jack stepped neatly between them before Robin could spiral any further, clapping her hands together with enough force to make several of the others look over.

“Well! Now that everyone's suitably terrified and/or excited…”

“Mostly terrified,” Robin corrected, raising her hand.

“Excellent! Let us begin!”

Jack snapped her fingers.

Robin blinked.

They looked at Jack.

Jack looked at Them.

Then Eleana’s shadow began to move, causing Robin's attention to snap downward.

Thin strands of darkness stretched away from Eleana's feet, crawling across the white marble despite the position of the lights above them. They branched outward in every direction, twisting over one another like roots searching through soil.

Eleana's hair slowly began to rise around her.

Her clothes fluttered despite there being no wind.

Since coming here, Robin had learned of their ex-teacher's true nature, sure, but knowing isn't the same as truly believing, and for the first time since meeting her, Robin became acutely aware that there was something vast behind the strange older woman.

They couldn't see it.

They weren't entirely sure they wanted to see it.

But they could feel it.

Something ancient and incomprehensibly enormous seemed to press against the edges of the world, as though reality itself had suddenly become far too small to contain what was within it.

Robin took an involuntary step backwards.

“What the hell…”

Eleana simply closed her eyes.

A peaceful smile crossed her face.

Then the darkness rushed inward.

Not towards Eleana.

Towards Robin.

“Oh, shi—”

Robin stumbled as every unnatural shadow converged beneath their feet and vanished at once.

And then—

Nothing.

Eleana's hair fell back around her shoulders. The shadows returned to where shadows were supposed to be, and the colosseum looked exactly as it had before.

Robin remained frozen in place while everyone else looked on.

“…That's it?” Robin raised their hands and examined them as they spoke.

“For you?” Jack replied, rocking back on her heels. “For now~.”

Robin looked towards Eleana, yet something about her seemed different.

It wasn't anything Robin could immediately identify. She still looked like Eleana. She still stood like Eleana. She still wore the same satisfied little smile.

But that strange pressure Robin hadn't even realised had constantly surrounded her was gone.

Suddenly, Eleana opened her eyes, she took a deep breath in… and then out.

She did it again, even slower this time.

For several seconds she simply stood there.

Everyone around shifted awkwardly, not quite sure what to make of the bizarre situation.

Eleana flexed her fingers, rolled her shoulders, then gave herself a small pat on the chest as though making sure she was all still there, then her smile grew.

“Oh, I feel positively tiny.”

Robin wasn't entirely sure whether she was supposed to apologise.

“This is fantastic!” The (ex) eldritch being beamed.

“You're really happy about this?” Robin asked, staring at her.

“Robin, I haven't felt this insignificant in centuries!”

Eleana giggled again before stepping closer. Now she was examining Robin with the same fascination Robin had seen Itzel use on her new fingers and legs earlier.

“And now you have it,” Eleana whispered excitedly.

Robin immediately looked down at themself in confusion.

“I don't feel any different.”

“Of course not. You don't understand it yet.” Eleana explained as she tapped the side of her own head.

“Imagine someone handed you an entire library written in a language you don't speak. You have the library. It's unquestionably yours. Doesn't mean you can read the books.”

Jack nodded enthusiastically from beside her.

“Precisely! Ownership and comprehension are two very different things. Eleana's power belongs to you now, Mastress, but until you actually understand what you've inherited, most of it will remain safely beyond your reach.”

Robin let out a relieved breath.

“And as for Eleana…” Jack continued.

She swept an arm towards the older woman.

“Congratulations! You are officially our Mastress' very first contracted witch!”

Eleana's eyes sparkled.

She placed one foot behind the other, pinched the sides of her clothing and lowered herself into an exaggerated curtsy.

“At your service, Mastress.”

Eleana looked back up, absolutely beaming.

“I feel like you are enjoying this far too much,” Robin commented.

“I know!” Eleana replied delightedly.

Robin sighed; somehow they got the impression that Miss Rosovich losing her powers was more exciting for her than having new powers was going to be for themselves.

Jack, meanwhile, clapped her hands together and turned towards the rest of the group.

“And with that, every contestant has officially received their first transformation!”

A relieved murmur started to spread through the group.

Jack raised one finger.

“Well…” Jack's smile slowly widened as her gaze travelled across the colosseum. “Almost every contestant.”

The relief on Zoe's face vanished.

Jack turned towards her with a positively delighted expression.

“So, now that everyone else has been transformed, I think it's time we finally dealt with the type of pizza you'll be getting, Zoe. Don't you?”

Zoe stared blankly at her.

“What pizza…?”

Then it hit her.

“OH! My transformation…”

There was a hint of fear in her voice now.

She'd almost managed to forget about the whole thing. With everyone else's transformations happening one after another, her own result had gradually been pushed to the back of her mind.

What had Jack said again?

She was getting two discarded transformations mixed together.

Zoe frowned as she tried to remember what had been thrown away. There was that one about names, wasn't there? That wouldn't be so bad. She was already pretty good with people's names anyway. Then there was another one involving teaching people about sex or something…

Zoe shivered.

Please god not that one.

Jack, meanwhile, was already strolling towards the little collection of discarded transformations she'd accumulated throughout the results. She crouched beside the pile and began rummaging through them with the enthusiasm of a child searching through a box of chocolates.

“Now, I think I have the perfect mix for you, Zoe,” Jack said, plucking out one slip, then another.

She rose and held both between her fingers, looking far too pleased with whatever combination she'd settled on.

“Something to make you really stand out in the eyes of your Mastress.”

Zoe's eyebrows knitted together.

“Wh-why did you say it like that?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly. It wasn't fear, per se. More the rapidly mounting anxiety of someone who knew something unpleasant was coming but had absolutely no idea from which direction.

“I haven't the faintest idea what you mean,” Jack replied coyly, presenting the first slip to her. “Here's your first ingredient.”

Farmer Physique: Ipheara gains more strength. Her shoulders become broader, and her legs are used to carrying heavy loads from the farm. (Farmer)

Zoe stared at it.

Okay. Okay, that one isn't so bad.

Slightly broader shoulders? Whatever. She could live with that. More strength wasn't exactly a downside either, and stronger legs might actually be useful. Hell, depending on how it worked, that could even help with skating.

For something originally intended for a giant moth woman, it seemed surprisingly tame.

Zoe released a breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.

“Okay…”

Jack's smile grew.

“And here's your second!”

Zoe's relief immediately evaporated.

Towering: Nyx will always be two heads taller than the tallest person in the room and will dynamically change to ensure that. (Amazon)

Zoe nearly did a spit take, and she hadn't even had a drink.

“The tallest person in the room?”

Her head whipped around.

It didn't take long to find Nyx; in fact, it was rather difficult to lose Nyx.

The Amazon already towered over everyone else in the colosseum, and Zoe's eyes slowly travelled from her feet all the way up to her head.

And kept going.

Two heads above that?

Zoe felt slightly ill.

Then her gaze found Robin.

Robin wasn't exactly the tallest guy person around, especially with people like Nyx standing nearby, but that wasn't the point. Zoe liked looking up at Robin. It was such a tiny, stupid thing that she'd never even consciously thought about it before, but now that she was faced with losing it, the idea felt profoundly wrong.

Being taller than her partner?

Absolutely not; she didn't want Robin looking up at her.

“Don’t they complement each other just wonderfully!” Jack interrupted Zoe’s thoughts.

Zoe slowly turned towards her.

“No?”

“Wonderful! Now, let's see here…” Jack mused, paying absolutely no attention to her.

She held the two pieces of paper side by side, examining them as though there were some great complexity to what she was about to do. Then, without ceremony, she scrunched both slips into a single ball.

“Woa– what are you doing?” Zoe almost yelped in surprise at the strange act.

“You wouldn't understand.” Jack muttered as green light began emanating between her fingers.

The glow seeped through every gap in her hands, growing brighter until the individual scraps of paper were completely obscured. Jack gave the ball one final squeeze before the light abruptly vanished.

Then she unscrunched it, and where there had previously been two slips, there was now only one.

Jack smoothed out the newly formed paper against her palm before turning it around and placing it into Zoe's hands.

Towering Farmer's Physique: Zoe gains more strength, her shoulders become broader, and her legs gain extra mass as if they were accustomed to carrying heavy loads from the farm; in addition, she will always be the tallest person in the room by one head. (Farmer + Amazon)

“See?” Jack said proudly. “Already an improvement!”

“An improvement would be removing the tall part entir—”

Zoe's entire body suddenly pulled taut.

Her sentence collapsed into a strangled noise as she doubled over, knees bending and arms instinctively wrapping around herself in pain.

No, pain wasn't quite the right word for it. It was closer to the feeling of a full-body massage mixed with pandiculation, that deep, almost overwhelming strain of stretching after staying still for far too long. Except instead of being confined to a few muscles, it was happening to practically every part of her at once.

Every muscle felt caught between strain and compression.

Her back stretched. Her legs tightened. Her arms felt as though somebody had grabbed each hand and pulled in opposite directions.

Zoe squeezed her eyes shut.

“Fffffuck…”

Her hips and shoulders felt it the most.

Pressure gathered around them, her frame steadily broadening as her entire body stretched upwards. Her legs grew heavier beneath her, gaining strength and mass to support a frame that was rapidly becoming much larger than they would have ever had to support before.

Rrrrip.

Zoe's eyes opened slightly.

Was that—

Rrip.

Another faint tear came from somewhere on her clothes, and normally, that would've been an immediate concern, but right now, she couldn't bring herself to give a shit.

Another wave of pressure travelled through her body, and Zoe crouched even lower to fight against it. The position didn't seem to help much. If anything, it only made the strange stretching sensation more noticeable as the distance between her and the floor seemed to increase regardless.

Then, as quickly as it had begun—

It stopped.

Carefully, Zoe opened her eyes, still breathing heavily as she recovered from the sensations she had just endured.

The first thing she noticed was the ground looked further away than it felt.

Admittedly, that was probably because she was crouching strangely, so Zoe cautiously began straightening herself.

And straightening.

And straightening.

Once she finally reached her full height.

“…fuck.”

Zoe wasnt exactly terrified of heights, but having the ground be this far away from her head definitely made her dizzy.

Looking at the people around her was the worst part; Ulyssa was below her. Leanne was below her. Jack was below her. Even—

Zoe turned.

Nyx.

The Amazon stood with her arms crossed, staring back at her.

Nyx's eyes were below hers, and her expression suggested she was already fully aware of this fact and would greatly appreciate nobody mentioning it.

Zoe slowly turned towards Robin, and her heart sank.

Robin was looking up at her—Quite a lot up, to be precise.

And much like her heart, her shoulders sank down at her sides, but before she could wallow in self pity for much longer—

“Look at you!” Jack exclaimed, spreading her arms as though displaying her newest masterpiece. “Strong! Sturdy! Statuesque! You really do stand out.”

“I am going to fucking strangle you.”

“See? And now you'll have the upper-body strength to do it properly!”

Zoe decided not to dignify that with a response.

Instead, she looked herself over.

Her entire build felt different. There was more weight behind every movement now, particularly in her legs. She shifted from one foot to the other and immediately noticed how solid she felt, like her body had spent years doing heavy physical work.

Suddenly Zoe came to a horrifying realisation.

Something that will most definitely define the rest of her life.

Something that was nigh unforgivable.

Something that brought tears to her eyes when she thought about it.

“Zoe?” Robin asked as they noticed Zoe’s eyes glossing over.

No response.

“Zoe, you alright?”

Zoe slowly raised her head.

Her face was stricken with horror.

“How the fuck am I supposed to skateboard with feet this big?”