Think of me and I'll be there

After the initial shock of Dakota’s sudden transportation wore off, everyone gathered together in front of the stage. There were almost enough beach chairs to go around, except for the girls who weren’t contestants. Marley shared with Carly, because of course she did, and Mary had her own little seat next to Nick, much to the envy of Rose and a few other girls. Holly, of course, rested loyally on the stage by his feet, kicking her legs off the edge absentmindedly as she waited for the results. That just left Nola, who waited eagerly beside Dakota, and Octavia, who stood at attention beside the smiling Vivian.

Most of the girls were a little excited to hear what she had to say. At the same time, not everybody was as thrilled by the situation- some people, Ella in particular, was just generally done with all of this.

She didn’t want to know who had the best swimsuit. She knew it wasn’t her. And she didn’t want it to be, either.

Why did I even agree to participate in this contest in the first place? She questioned. It had brought her nothing but stress, and led to Cinder coming out again.

She grabbed her rubber-band and snapped it, just to make sure her other self didn’t take over for the second time today.

Seeing that everyone was ready, Dakota flashed a smile only a host could wear.

“I think the proper way to start things off is to cover the first part- the actual contest,” Dakota declared, scanning over the crowd with her eyes. “The one for points, as it were. And fortunately, things happened to work out just perfectly!”

“Oh? What do you mean by that?” Nick asked, a little suspicious of what would constitute as “perfect” by Dakota’s standards.

Dakota smirked at him.

“What I mean should be obvious. You remember the rules, right?” She pointed out, gesturing over to Vivian, who had claimed the bounty in the first place.

Vivian nodded. “Yeah. The overall winner gets 1000 BP and 3 VP. Then the three runner-ups get 500 BP and 1 VP, and everybody else gets 100 BP just for participating.”

“Precisely,” Dakota chirped, pleased that the heiress had been paying such close attention. “And that’s precisely why these results are so exceptional! You see, during the polling, I had such a troubling thought strike my mind… what if multiple girls got close to one another? Suppose that there was an obvious winner, but say, four or five girls who were all very close in points to one another next? Why, it would be simply tragic, then, if only three of them got the VP, and the others who were so close just got a measly 100 BP for their troubles…”

Dakota gave an exaggerated sigh, and mimed wiping a tear from her eye. Nick scoffed. Like Dakota would have actually cared.

Indeed, the golden-eyed girl immediately made her perspective known, perking right up and flashing a playful smile.

“…But fortunately, we can ignore all that unpleasantness, because the votes happened to come out almost perfect! There was one very definite winner, and then three girls who received quite a substantial amount of votes to put them all in close for the runner-up position! And then everyone else fell in the bracket below. I couldn’t have dreamed up a better result if I’d tried!”

“Ooh, I’m so excited!” Rose declared, holding her head up high. “I’m sure I came in first!”

Nick had to smile at her confidence, at least.

Morgana shifted awkwardly in her seat, not sure what to expect. Dawn leaned over in her chair and patted her on the back.

“You tried really hard,” she encouraged her friend. “The audience is going to be receptive to that, I just know it. Unlike with me, though.”

She knew full well that for all her “effort” she would never score high on one of these things. As degenerate as the viewing audience of this twisted show might be, apparently they didn’t find her childish appearance that appealing.

But she didn’t need their validation. Nick liked her no matter what they thought, and that’s what really mattered.

“I’m a little nervous myself,” Kim admitted, scratching her head sheepishly. “I don’t usually do these things, and I’m wearing a pretty scandalous swimsuit, that’s definitely not my usual style… hopefully the audience likes it?”

She tugged on the gold patches covering her unmentionables just to make sure there wouldn’t be any accidental slips. Those were the sorts of things she needed to do to keep from feeling like a completely skank. That being said, she really liked the style of the swimsuit.

“I think it really suits you actually,” Vivian commented. “Gold really is your color! I’m not surprised someone who works in a boutique has such a nice sense of style!”

Kim stared at Vivian in shock, not sure what to say. Such an open-faced compliment without even a hint of a backhand had caught her completely off-guard.

“Err… yeah, well, I didn’t pick it out myself,” she stammered out, glancing over at Dani. “Dani’s the one who chose it for me.”

Dani winked at the tomboy and waved. “You look great, by the way!” She called. “I know I’d hit on you if I saw you at the gym in that.”

“If she was wearing that to the gym, she’d be arrested,” Holly giggled.

Kim blushed and stood a little taller, feeling rather proud of herself.

“I think everyone really did their best,” Marley said, trying not to attract too much attention herself. Like Morgana and Kim, she kept having to adjust her swimsuit. She was convinced that her curves were too big for it.

“I wasn’t taking part, but I hope everyone does well,” Mary said. She was being her usual encouraging self, positive to a fault.

And of course, Sylvia couldn’t help but ruin it. “But it’s still a competition,” she reminded everyone. “There’s going to be winners and losers.”

“Thanks for that sobering reminder, Sylvia,” Gina said, rolling her eyes.

Dakota cleared her throat. “Are you ladies quite done?” She asked, barely able to hide the amused look on her face. “Because I’m ready to reveal what you’ve all been waiting to see! The results!”

With a flick of her cane, she summoned a familiar black screen. Nick leaned forward on his throne and the girls did the same, as the results flashed across.

1. Morgana – 10.84%

2. Gina – 9.54%

3. Sylvia – 9.23%

4. Marley – 8.95%

5. Kim – 7.69%

6. Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin – 7.59%

7. Vivian – 7.28%

8. Rose – 6.96%

9. Holly – 6.32%

10. Carly – 6.08%

11. Dani – 5.77%

12. Dawn – 5.47%

13. Amelia – 4.62%

14. Cinder/Ella – 3.66%

The results were quite a load to take in.

There were some people who were shocked, and some who were not.

Dawn was one of the shocked ones. “I… whoa. I didn’t expect that I’d place THAT high.”

Amelia glanced her way. “It would do you well to not say such things,” she stated. When she saw Dawn wince, she knew that had come out wrong. She’d meant to say that Dawn should have more self-esteem, but she could see how the other girl wouldn’t take it that way.

Ella sighed. As she expected, she had come in last. And it wasn’t close, either. 3.66% of the vote? That was practically nothing.

In contrast, Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin silently hummed to herself as she kicked her feet above the sand. It seemed like she’d completely expected to place where she did, which was fairly high. The girl was unflappable, while many others were surprised.

But nobody was as shocked as Morgana. She fell right out of her chair.

“I… I came in first?” She stammered. “Out of everyone?!”

She looked around the beach in disbelief. All the beautiful women surrounding her in their sexy swimsuits, and she’d beaten out them all in the audience’s eyes? How was that even possible?

“I told you, you should have more confidence in yourself,” Dawn said, leaning forward in her chair. “You were really daring with your swimsuit choice, and you got in first for a reason! The audience definitely appreciated it!”

“Yeah, you look really nice,” Rose said, crossing her arms and sinking back in her chair, making a sulking face. “The audience really likes that look. You got a whole percentage point higher than second place. Congratulations.”

Not that she was bitter or anything. She meant what she said, she really did, but her own poor mood kept her from properly vocalizing those thoughts.

“I know Nick definitely appreciates your change,” Mary said from the stage, catching the conversation just barely.

“I can’t believe I placed so high!” Holly chimed in, amazed. “I got higher than Carly and Dani did!”

“I kind of expected that, honestly,” Carly admitted with a sigh. “It’s cosplay, after all. I probably would have scored higher if I got to pick a swimsuit for myself.”

“I’m not that surprised either,” Dani agreed. “I know I look great in this, but it’s probably because I’m a lesbian. The audience always votes me low in the polls because of that.”

Kim frowned. She was sympathetic to Dani’s situation, and she could tell that the tomboy wasn’t saying that just to make people feel bad for her. No, she really did feel that way.

“…I don’t think that’s it, actually,” Kim said. “Look at how high I got.”

She pointed at her own score. She was in fifth place. Right under the runners-up. She wouldn’t get any additional prizes for her position, but she was stunned by how high she’d ranked.

Dani looked at her in confusion, not sure what she meant.

“I think I got such a high score because I switched things up,” Kim explained. “You didn’t. You’re the only one here who’s wearing the same swimsuit as the last competition. Look at how high Gina got, for example!”

Gina had come in second. Which was a shock, considering she was arguably the most covered out of everyone here, given her jacket.

The punk girl nodded in agreement. “It’s a little weird, you’re right,” she agreed.

“See? You probably got voted so low because you didn’t do anything daring,” Kim explained. “I think if you’d chosen something different, something new, you would have gotten a lot more points.”

“Maybe,” Dani admitted, shifting in her seat. “But I like this bikini!”

Still, she understood Kim’s point. And she could agree with what her friend was saying.

“Kim’s right on the money,” Vivian chimed in, even though nobody had asked for her opinion. “When it comes to fashion, new is always better! New captures the eye, it gets people thinking, ‘if she looks good in this thing I’ve never seen on her before, what else would she look good in?’ and when people are thinking like that, well…”

She clapped her hands together and started rubbing them. “Well that’s the whole score, isn’t it though?”

Octavia nodded in silent agreement with her employer.

“I’m surprised you’re taking this so well,” Kim said, not trying to sound as sarcastic as she came across. “I’d have thought you’d be pouting over placing so low, you know, given how much you care about your appearance.”

Kim felt more than a little smug that she’d beaten the heiress in the audience’s eyes, given how much time Vivian had spent on her swimsuit.

But Vivian didn’t seem fazed in the least.

“Eh, who cares about that?” She scoffed, waving her hand. “I’m too proud to be upset! After all, I’m the one who picked out such a lovely swimsuit for Morgana, remember?”

Kim frowned. That was true, Vivian had been very insistent about Morgana’s swimsuit, determined to find one that would be perfect for the goth girl.

“When you’re a designer, the only thing better than looking phenomenal is when your models get praised because of your design choices,” Vivian proclaimed. “Yes, Morgana had the final say, and she deserves all the credit for pulling that swimsuit off with such aplomb. But I knew that she was a winner the second I laid eyes on her.”

Kim was silent. She didn’t really have anything else to say to that, so she just muttered. “Well, okay then,” and turned back to the other girls.

Of course, by that point, Carly had seized control of the conversation.

“I think I’d like to see you in something new, too,” Carly giggled.

Dani blushed. “W-well, maybe next time,” she said, crossing her arms.

While Dani and Carly flirted, Marley felt a little uncomfortable. Not only did she feel a little squished sharing a seat with her sister, but the fact that she’d scored so much higher than her? High enough to become a runner-up?! That… wow, that was really something.

But she was much more focused on the other thing of importance.

“Sylvia, look at how high you are!” She said, her eyes wide with excitement. “You came in third! Third place! You’re right behind Gina!”

“I-I know, it’s amazing,” Sylvia said, shaking her head. She was having trouble processing it herself. She turned to Amelia. “It’s all thanks to you, thank you so much for picking out this swimsuit for me, Amelia!” She gushed.

Amelia gave her a tight-lipped expression, which probably should have been a smile, but she wasn’t very good at that. “You are quite welcome,” she politely responded. Which was enough to send Sylvia beaming.

Dakota scowled and tapped her cane on the stage. She cleared her throat. “Now then, that’s enough of that. We have prizes to distribute, remember! Don’t forget, this contest wasn’t only for fun. You ladies are getting VP and BP, depending on your placement!”

She turned to Morgana. “And to start, we’ll take a look at our triumphant victor, Morgana! Congratulations on first place!”

Morgana was still too stunned to have a response. She just blushed and nodded quietly.

“For first place,” Dakota continued, “you get 1000 BP, and a whole 3 VP as well!”

Morgana’s name was highlighted on the screen, and it shifted to reveal her changes in score.

Morgana: 3300 BP + 1000 BP = 4300 BP

Morgana: 84 + 3 VP = 87 VP

It was definitely a sight to see.

“Morgana was already in first place in the rankings after her little threesome,” Dakota cooed. “No, even before that, she was ahead. But now? Talk about a commanding lead!”

Rose made another sour expression. Again, she shouldn’t blame Morgana for her success, but still, she was frustrated!

“As for our runners-up, Gina, Sylvia, you’ll each be getting 500 BP and 1 VP, as a nice little reward for all your hard work,” Dakota continued, sounding far less enthusiastic about that. With another flick of her cane, their names on the screen shifted like Morgana’s did.

Gina: 7900 BP + 500 BP = 8400 BP

Gina: 59 VP + 1 VP = 60 VP

Sylvia: 2500 BP + 500 BP = 3000 BP

Sylvia: 44 VP + 1 VP = 45 VP

“What about me?” Marley asked, raising her eyebrow. She tugged on her swimsuit again, just to make sure her breasts were covered. “I was a runner up, too,” she pointed out.

Dakota nodded. “Yes, yes, we’ll get to you and Holly in a moment,” she said, shaking her head. “Remember, you girls who aren’t in Nick’s harem anymore will be giving your prizes to someone of your choice.”

“I’m surprised you have so much BP, Gina,” Vivian said, turning to the punk girl. “That’s quite a nest egg. Any idea what you might spend it on?”

Gina shrugged. “Honestly? I’ve got no idea.”

She’d never had a lot of money to her name, so she didn’t know what she would even spend this amount of BP on. Maybe it was better if she didn’t have it- she was liable to just blow through it, anyway, after all.

As for Sylvia, she was still pretty low in the rankings. But she was glad to at least get a little bit of a gain here. And she was still riding high from being placed so highly by the audience. It seemed for all of Dakota’s harsh words, Sylvia was still a very popular young lady.

Something Dakota seemed to be trying very hard to ignore.

“As for the rest of you ladies, you tried very hard,” she said. “But as I said before, there was quite a definite difference between our runners-up, and everybody else. But still, it’s time for you all to get your rewards!”

Kim: 8000 BP + 100 BP = 8100 BP

Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin: 4600 BP + 100 BP = 4700 BP

Vivian: 2600 BP + 100 BP = 2700 BP

Rose: 8800 BP + 100 BP = 8900 BP

Carly: 7100 BP + 100 BP = 7200 BP

Dani: 5100 BP + 100 BP = 5200 BP

Dawn: 2400 BP + 100 BP = 2500 BP

Amelia: 1700 BP + 100 BP = 1800 BP

Cinder/Ella: 4000 BP + 100 BP = 4100 BP

The totals were summed up quite nicely. Even though there wasn’t much gain, it was still nice to get everybody on the same page.

Ella still looked sad though. She had a lot of BP, thanks to Cinder’s sacrifice the other day, but it still didn’t feel nice, knowing how little the audience thought of her.

Everyone else seemed satisfied with their pittance… except for Rose.

She raised her hand to her hair, and felt it grow… just barely. Hardly anything had come in. At this rate, she’d never get back to her original length.

Marley noticed that from across the beach- it was kind of hard to miss. She’d gone from being sour towards Morgana to just generally sad, and Nick’s heart went out to her.

Even Dakota might have felt a little bad, because she was quick to rush past that part and get to the two girls who still hadn’t received their prizes.

“Now then, Holly, for you, the choice is a simple one,” she said, turning to the short maid at Nick’s feet. “Choose any of the other contestants to give an additional 100 BP to. It shouldn’t be a difficult choice at all, I reckon, since it’s such a small amount.”

Holly nodded. Dakota was right, it wasn’t difficult at all. “I’ll give my 100 BP to Ella,” she stated, earning her a look of surprise from the other girl.

“Eh?! Me?” Ella stared at her in shock. She’d barely talked with Holly at all. In fact, she almost resented the other girl, who seemed to enjoy her role as a maid so pleasantly. The way she kept trying to get Ella to think about it positively on her nights in the Master’s Suite rubbed her the wrong was as well.

Holly nodded. “I know what it’s like to not have the audience like you very much,” she said quietly. “I feel bad that you got in last place. I know it’s not much, but it’s 100 BP. Maybe you can make use of it somehow.”

Ella didn’t know what to say. So she said nothing, and nodded shyly, feeling the start of a smile creep up her lips at the kind gesture.

Ella: 4100 BP + 100 BP = 4200 BP

Mary beamed at her friend. Because of Holly’s issues, not everyone knew how sweet and loving of a young woman she could be. But Mary knew. And Nick did, too. He didn’t expect any less of her.

Content, Holly hummed to herself, while Dakota turned to Marley, the only one left.

“With you, Marley, it’s a little more complicated,” she stated. “After all, it’s 500 BP, not 100. And more importantly… a single, solitary Victory Point. Given to whoever you like. That point could make all the difference down the line… be careful with it.”

“It’s obvious that she’s just going to give it to her sister, though, right?” Nola pointed out, giggling to herself. “After all, she’s that kind of person!”

Marley shot the obnoxious leprechaun a dirty look.

“Hey, come on, don’t feel pressured to give it to me,” Carly said quickly, shaking her head. “I don’t mind, really, it’s not a big deal. I’m doing fine! Choose whoever you want!”

Marley glanced at Carly. She hated to admit it, but Nola had her pegged. Going into this thing she’d thought that if, against all odds, she really had placed high, she’d planned to give Carly her reward. But she hadn’t really expected that to happen.

Well, just like last time… it happened. The audience really seemed to favor her, for some reason.

At the same time, Carly didn’t seem to care. She studied her sister closely. Something was definitely off about her, but she couldn’t place what it was. It unnerved her, though. At the same time, she knew that it probably didn’t have anything to do with the swimsuit contest.

“…Well… Carly doesn’t really care that much one way or the other, so don’t need to give it to her,” Marley decided. “I think… yeah. I think I’m going to give my reward to Rose.”

“Wh-what?” Rose sat up in her seat, shocked. “You’re giving it to me?”

“Really?” Dani looked surprised to hear that, and she wasn’t the only one.

Marley nodded timidly.

“Look, hey, if this is because we’re sisters, you don’t need to do that!” Rose waved her hands quickly. “Remember, that’s all because of the transformation! Those memories we have, they’re only temporary!”

Marley looked at her. “You mean, like the time you sprinkled itching powder on my hairbrush?”

Rose paled. “W-well…”

The curvy girl laughed and shook her head. “Rose, that isn’t why I chose you. …Well, maybe a little bit. But you clearly wanted it badly. And more importantly… you could really use the points. You want to get your hair back, isn’t that right? Well, maybe this could help you a little bit. It’s not like I need it anyway.”

Rose might not have needed the BP in terms of value. But for her transformation? Every little bit helped. And as for the VP, she was still pretty high. But out of everyone here, she was really aiming the hardest for victory.

Maybe Marley shouldn’t be rewarding her sour behavior. But she cared for Rose a lot. And in a way, Rose was her buddy, too.

“I think that’s so sweet!” Dani gushed. “Taking care of Rose like that!”

But Rose didn’t think it was that sweet.

“I-I don’t know about this,” she said, blushing and shaking her head. “The BP, yes, I’ll happily take that, but the Victory Point? It feels wrong. A victory I didn’t earn myself? Hah!”

Mentally, she was kicking herself. She should just shut her mouth! But she couldn’t help it.

“Well, it’s not like I can split it, right?” Marley turned to Dakota for confirmation and Dakota just shrugged.

“…I don’t see why not,” the host replied.

“…Oh. Well, uh… in that case, can I give Rose the BP, and Dani the 1 VP?”

“Eh? Why?” Dani looked just as surprised as Rose.

Marley gave her a soft smile. “Well… everybody else, they can get VP by doing stuff with Nick, but you… it’s a little harder with you to get any, right? Since you’re a lesbian. So I thought, every little bit helps.”

Dani was touched. She nodded in appreciation and thanked Marley profusely, even though 1 VP was hardly anything and she didn’t really care about her final score anyway.

Dakota shrugged and recalculated the numbers regardless.

Rose: 8900 BP + 500 BP = 9400 BP

Dani: 46 VP + 1 VP = 47 VP

Nothing happened for Dani. But Rose? Her hair grew a whole other inch! It had almost reached her chin! Just a little bit more, and it would be back to its original length! Even a bit of curl was starting to come in!

The blonde nearly burst into tears.

Dakota cleared her throat once more and tapped her cane. “Yes, yes, this is all a very touching moment of family bonding. I appreciate that, really, I do. But don’t forget, we still have another swimsuit poll to check! And this one is far more important, because yours truly is involved in it!”

Nick thought that the one with actual points on the line was the one that was more important, but he decided the best thing to do was to keep his mouth shut and not make a big deal out of it.

Let Dakota have her fun.