Where did our love go?

“Hey Rose. You sure took your sweet time cleaning,” Carly noted with a smirk as Rose trudged into the Arcade Suite.

Rose let out a long sigh as she walked over to the closet, not even sparing the sisters a passing glance as she walked by.

“Everything okay?” Marley asked, concerned.

“Yeah… everything’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Rose said, cracking a smile that looked very forced. “You know, same old, same old.”

Carly frowned. It really didn’t seem like the “same old, same old” from where she was sitting. She thought twice about cracking any jokes about Rose playing at being a sexy maid.

“Seriously dude, what’s up?” She asked instead, walking over to the blonde. “You seem pretty down. Bad day or something?”

When they’d parted ways with Nick’s group, Rose had seemed okay. But right now she looked a little hollow, like she was just drained.

It was unusual to see the blonde not full of energy and mirth.

“I think your hair’s coming in nicely,” Marley commented. “That’s a good sign, right?”

Rose glanced at her, and sighed loudly. Then she turned to Carly and pulled up her screen, and typed something in.

Suddenly, her hair lengthened back to its original length again, bouncing around her shoulders.

“Whoa, what was that?!” Carly’s eyes widened in surprise. “Your hair! It just grew back!”

“Yeah,” Rose said, rolling her eyes and scoffing. “I copied your transformation. You know, the one you use to turn your hair into whatever you want it to be?”

“…Oh, yeah, I forgot about that…” Carly blushed sheepishly.

“Seriously, sis?” Marley looked at her sister incredulously. “You just forgot about that? You use that practically every day!”

“Yeah, but I don’t think about it!” Carly protested defensively. “Besides, I didn’t think anybody would want to copy that one!”

“I just want my hair back,” Rose said bitterly, walking over to the bed and sitting down facing away from the girls. “Even if it’s just for one day. Do you have a problem with that?”

The twins winced, and glanced at each other.

Whatever was bugging the frustrated blonde, it seemed pretty serious.

“Rose… really, if you need to talk, I’m here,” Carly said gently. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Rose turned and looked up at her, her eyes watering. “Sure, Carly. Yeah, we’re friends.”

She smiled when she said that, but it didn’t touch her eyes.

Marley bit her lip. Something had clearly happened today that Rose wasn’t keen on sharing. But what could it have been? Was she really still so upset about all the bounties that were going around? It couldn’t be as simple as that, could it?

No way. There’s got to be more to it than that.

“Are you really still upset about all the bounties going around?” Carly asked, not overthinking things nearly as much as her sister.

Marley suppressed a groan.

“It’s not about that,” Rose snapped, shaking her head. “…Well… not completely, I mean…”

So that meant it was at least partially about that.

Yeesh.

“How can we help?” Marley asked gently, sitting down beside her. Rose had done a lot for the two of them, using her transformation so that they could split up on occasion. The twins owed her a pretty massive debt.

“Yeah, whose legs do I gotta get Dani to break?” Carly asked, punching her palm.

Rose chuckled at Carly’s attempt to lighten the mood. It was appreciated, even if it wasn’t very effective.

“It’s not about that,” she assured them. “I just… I’m falling behind, and I don’t know what to do about it, you know?”

“Falling behind? What, you mean like in the competition?” Carly asked. “Why are you even trying so hard for that anyway? Does being Nick’s harem queen really matter that much to you?”

Rose glared scornfully at her. “You wouldn’t understand,” she spat. “After all, you’re getting the best of both worlds.”

“Carly…” Marley said, warning her sister to drop that line of thinking. But Carly pushed forward anyway, not heeding her sister.

“Best of both worlds? What does that mean?” Carly demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

Rose sighed.

“You get to have all the exciting sex with Nick you want on your nights with him,” she reminded the cosplayer, recalling her own shared experience with Carly in the Master’s Suite. “And when that’s all done, you get to go home to your little girlfriend and get all the love and attention and devotion you could want.”

It was hard for Rose to mask the venom in her voice. Carly stared at her in shock, not quite sure what to say.

“R-Rose, that’s…”

“I want that too!” The blonde wailed, forcing back her tears. “You don’t think I want Nick to love me, and only me? Anyone would! But I can’t. Because he has a bunch of other women that are devoted to him, including you. He doesn’t have room for just me in his heart.”

Marley wanted to punch her sister sometimes. Carly really didn’t understand how good she had it compared to the rest of them.

“I… I’m sorry,” Carly stammered, her face burning with shame. “I didn’t mean…”

“No, it’s fine, it’s not your fault,” Rose muttered, wiping her eyes. “What, am I really going to blame you for having someone else love you? How pathetic is that? I just… if I can’t be the only one who he loves… can’t I at least want to be the one he loves the most? Is that so wrong?”

Mary’s name went unspoken amongst the trio. But they all thought the same thing for a second.

“No, that’s not wrong at all,” Marley said gently, patting Rose on the shoulder. “Of course you can want that.”

“And you’re really high up there in the rankings!” Carly pointed out. “You’ve got, what, 67 VP? That’s quite a lot! More than I’ve got.”

“Barely,” Rose muttered. Carly had 65 VP herself, which was a pretty nice sum. “And it doesn’t matter- it’s not going to be enough. You should have seen Morgana at dinner tonight. She was all over him! They’re probably going to do all sorts of sexy things together, and she’s probably going to shoot up to first place. I’m never going to catch up at this rate, no matter how much I do with him!”

“Yeah, that’s pretty tough,” Carly admitted. They’d shared a threesome with Nick and it still hadn’t been enough to get either of them to first. “Is that what this is about? Are you jealous of Morgana, of all people? But she’s so sweet, and she’s so shy…”

“Sweet maybe, but she’s not shy anymore,” Rose replied, shaking her head. “She drank some of Mary’s milk, I’m pretty sure. She cast off that shy cocoon of hers like a butterfly, and now she’s spreading her wings- and her legs- in Nick’s bed.”

Marley winced. It was so unnatural, seeing Rose bemoan herself like this. Normally, the blonde would have acted like this was a personal affront, and sought to emerge victorious no matter what. But it seemed almost like she’d given up.

Rose?

Give up?

Was that even possible?

Marley glanced over at her sister, trying to get a bead on what Carly was thinking, but the other woman seemed surprisingly pensive, almost like she was lost in thought.

“Carly? Everything okay?” She asked her sister, but Carly ignored her.

Then her expression softened.

“Rose… is this really just about being number one?” She asked quietly.

Rose flinched, then she frowned. “What… what else would it be about?” She demanded.

“Your wish,” Carly replied. “Don’t you remember? Whoever wins the season gets a wish. For anything they want.”

Marley bristled. “Carly, I don’t think we should go there,” she said firmly, realizing where her sister was heading.

“What are you trying to say?” Rose narrowed her eyes and stared suspiciously at her roommate.

“I just wanted to know what it is you’re trying so hard for,” Carly said gently. “Because when this all started… I was trying pretty hard myself for something I wanted more than anything.” She took a deep breath and her heart wavered for a second. “…My daughter.”

Rose went pale. “H-hey, Carly, that’s enough. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“I just want to know,” Carly urged her. She wasn’t the pushy sort, but it was clear that Rose was on a downward spiral and needed all the help she could get. “Rose… if I won, I wanted to use my wish to bring my daughter back to life. I wasn’t able to process her death or deal with it. And even now, sometimes I still wonder if I should do that, if I win. Especially after that last challenge.”

Marley’s eyes widened. This was the first she’d heard about that.

“Sis…”

“Is that why you’re trying so hard?” Carly asked. “I know you lost your mother-”

“Stop it!” Rose cut her off with a shout, and slapped the mattress. Tears burned in her eyes as she glared at Carly.

“Don’t talk about maman.”

“I’m sorry,” Carly apologized immediately, feeling absolutely awful. “I just wanted to help…”

If Rose was pushing herself this hard and torturing herself over a desire to bring her mother back to life, Carly wanted to be there to support her. But Rose clearly didn’t want that.

“I’m not trying to bring maman back,” Rose said, her voice cracking. “I already said my goodbye. I don’t need any wishes. I don’t need any reward. I just… I just want… I just want to be his number one, that would be enough…”

Rose could wish for a lot things. She’d lacked so much in her childhood, and she wanted so much for her brother. But none of that mattered because no wish could give her the thing she wanted most in the world.

“…I don’t know what to do,” she admitted, looking down. “I don’t know how I can win.”

Marley and Carly looked at each other. After Carly’s huge mistake a moment ago, she had been humbled. Now neither sister had any clue what they could say to help her.

Carly did have that transformation of hers, the one that compelled her to give advice to anyone who asked for it. Was the fact that it wasn’t triggering right now a sign that Rose didn’t know what to ask for? Or because Carly didn’t know if there was any advice she could give? Or maybe it was because the advice was so sexual, and Rose didn’t need help in that regard?

“…But I’m not going to let that stop me!” The blonde declared, smearing off her tears and hopping to her feet.

Or maybe Carly’s transformation didn’t trigger because Rose wasn’t actually looking for advice, since she always assumed she knew best.

Rose’s eyes burned with renewed fervor.

“So Morgana thinks she’s all that, huh? Well, two can play at that game! She needs Mary’s help to get out of her shell, well, I don’t! Just because it’s two against one, that doesn’t mean I’m defeated!” Rose declared. “I’m not about to let that goth get the better of me! This means war!”

Marley sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Yep, that was Rose alright. No matter what happened, she would always bounce back.

If only she could do it without being a massive pain in the ass.

“Well, I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Carly said, sighing in relief. “If you need any help like last time, I’d be happy to lend you a hand.”

Carly had rather appreciated the threesome she’d shared with Rose. She wasn’t averse to doing that again in the future.

And due to her new transformation, it seemed like she’d be in for a lot of threesomes.

As a matter of fact, that was exactly what Rose was thinking. She turned to the cosplayer with a conspiratorial gleam in her eye.

“I’m so glad you said that,” she purred, stroking Carly’s cheek. “Because I think I know just the way you can help me!”

Marley groaned and rubbed her temples. “Oh no…”

“Oh, yes,” Rose nodded. “That new transformation of yours, what was it called?” She tapped her chin thoughtfully, trying to remember Carly’s latest transformation. “Right, it was called Collab Stream if I recall!”

“Yeah, that one,” Carly nodded. “I get to invite someone up to the Master’s Suite with me on my nights with him.”

• Collab Stream: A good content creator knows the best way to build a brand is to partner with someone else. On Carly’s nights with the master, she may invite another contestant into the Master’s Suite with her for a threesome. The audience will grade both girls’ performances in a quick vote, and split a reward of 5 VP between the two girls depending on who they judged as performing better. (Content Creator)

Rose beamed. “Well, that’s perfect then!” She crowed. “All you have to do is invite me up to the Master’s Suite with you again on your night together, and I’ll be able to earn a nice glut of VP from our sex!”

“So, what, like a team-up?” Carly raised her eyebrow. “I mean, I guess. But the audience is still voting on who performed better, remember? You really think you can out-sex me?” She curled up her lips into a smirk and wiggled her eyebrows.

Rose scowled. “I-I can do anything if I set my mind to it!” She protested, her cheeks flushing.

Marley cleared her throat. “I think there’s something you’re both forgetting,” she said after drawing their attention. “Remember what Dakota said? The contestant going to the Master’s Suite with Carly will be chosen at random. For exactly this reason- colluding. You guys seriously forgot?”

“Aargh! That’s right!” Rose groaned, ruffling her hair in frustration. She felt a twinge between her legs and quickly yanked her hand away as she got a reminder of the other part of Carly’s Anime Black transformation. “Stupid rule…”

“Well, I guess that’s that, then,” Carly sighed, shrugging in resignation. “I can’t help you if I can’t choose to take you up with me, Rose. Sorry. Better luck next time.”

“Well… there IS still a way Rose could get some extra VP from that arrangement, though,” Marley noted.

“Huh?” Carly blinked.

“There is?!” Rose’s eyes widened. “How?! Come on, spill it slime girl!”

Marley scowled at that statement, then sighed. “You can just copy her transformation,” she pointed out, waving at Rose’s hair. “Just like you did tonight. You copy Collab Stream for yourself, and then you take someone else up to the Master’s Suite with you. Just like Carly, you can farm more VP that way.”

“Hey, yeah, that’s a great idea, sis!” Carly slapped her twin on the back. “I knew it was lucky my sister is such a nerd!”

Marley rolled her eyes and scoffed, and both girls stared at Rose, who looked shaken.

“But… but that’s my night,” she pointed out. “That’s my night with him! You want me to share the one night I get with Nick every round!?”

The twins couldn’t believe how selfish Rose sounded right there. Even for her, that was pretty egotistical.

“You were about to do the same thing with me!” Carly protested. “And you did last round!”

“Yeah, but that’s different! You already have Dani, you don’t need any romance,” Rose fired back. “Letting someone else share the night with me… just so I can get some VP… and Mary’s already going to be there anyway-! I just…”

She couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“Hey, I mean, it’s up to you,” Marley scoffed, shrugging. “You don’t want to make the call, that’s your choice. I’m just talking out options with you.”

Rose sighed. “Yeah… you’re right,” she admitted, giving the other girl a contrite smile. “Thank you for your suggestion, Marley.”

Thinking about possible options definitely helped. Even if, in Rose’s eyes, this one wasn’t an option in the slightest.

---

While the other girls were all getting set to go to bed, Dakota leaned back in her own suite with a smirk on her face.

“My, it seems that the bounties have caused quite a stir, just as I’d hoped,” she cooed, practically shivering with delight. “Let’s see what the audience has to say about it…”

It had been a while since she last checked in on the chat. She was curious what they had to say.

“New girls are really shakig things up.”

“LMAO gotta love Rose being a bithc as usual lol”

“Peak Rose”

“OH MY GOSH MARYGANA IS SO SEXY ISTFGKGSHHFF!”

“Yeah that was one hot scene witht those too.”

“*Two”

“Fucking Nick ruined the whole thing by pulling out, fucking lame”

“Nah that was smart. Can’t get a girl pregnant if she’s not in the right frame of mind to consent to it.”

“But sex is okay?”

“Obviously?”

“Yes, obviously.”

“Duh.”

“Goth = consent”

“Nah Nick totally blew it.”

“No he didn’t blow it, that’s exactly the point.”

“Yeah he should have blown it inside.”

“Neither girl blew it. Boo no double blowjob”

“Ye that sucked”

“Wait, did it suck or did it blow”

“Neither.”

“Exactly.”

“#GetMorganaPreggers”

“And it’s starting again.”

“#GetRosePreggers”

“Rose is gonna pull off this whole thing! #RoseGarden”

“Nah no way she doesn’t want it bad enough”

“Exactly. Throwing away VP for her dopey romance dreams? No winner does that #DawnPosse”

“Someone should tell Rose that facts don’t care about her feelings #DawnPosse”

“Dawn stans are pretty toxic tonight, probably because she’s been getting more action with that bed of hers than with Nick lmao”

“Oof”

“Savaged”

“#DawnPosse DESTROYED with FACTS and LOGIC”

“I’m interested in the bounties”

“Yeah that was really exciting, a good way for the girls to get ahead #CarlyFans”

“I’m excited to see how far some of them will push the envelope #GinaParty”

“Too bad Mary can’t collect bounties now. It would have been amazing seeing this back when Sylvia was the host, and she was still so hesitant. Just like in Violet’s season.”

“We don’t talk about that one.”

“Hush, don’t remind me.”

“Or Holly. Can you imagine if Holly had the bounty board? #HollyTeam”

“Oh yeah ‘I totally don’t want to do this Nick but I have no choice gotta have sex ten times in one night, it’s on the bounty. No, you can’t read it.’ #HollyTeam”

“She can do that right now.”

“Imagine still having Holly stans at this point in the season lmao”

“#GetHollyPreggers”

“Every time someone speaks I swear…”

“That photoshoot was so hot though! Oh my gosh, Kim looked so good in all of those outfits! #KimClique”

“Can’t believe the dominatrix one scored so low. What a waste.”

“Name a more iconic duo than Kim fans and preferring boring options #CarlyFans”

“Rose and money”

“Rose and failure.”

“Mary and milk”

“#GetMaryPreggers”

“She’s already pregnant guys you can stop the hashtags #ChurchOfMary #MarySupremacy”

“Nothing on the new girls? I really like Augmented Synthetic Humanoid Assassin #AssassinOutclassin”

“Someone needs to give her som tender loving lol”

“She doesn’t even know how to masturbate, poor thing”

“Nick’ll teach her”

“She’d learn so fast #DatAssassin”

“She needs Amelia to teach her a bunch of stuff, including sex ed #AmeliaClass”

“Only if Vivian joins in on the lesson too #VivianRebels”

“I think Vivian would rather learn from Octavia. #DidTheButler”

“I think Vivian would rather teach the class herself”

“Definitely”

“Or do some private tutoring with Nick”

“What about Cinder and Ella”

“They’re in the special needs class”

“Dude”

“Not cool”

“They’re special girls and they need my dick”

“Mods ban this guy”

“Mods plz ban”

“I’m so pissed off that they didn’t do more with the cats. When is Dawn getting her collar?! #CollarForDawn”

“Only after Rose does lmao #CollarForRose”

“Gina’s got a collar already do we really need more #GinaParty”

“Yes”

“Yes”

“#CollarForEverybody”

“Get a collar for Vivian, and a muzzle. She’s so annoying #KimClique”

“Seconded #SylviaSquad”

“I think Morgana would look really fucking sexy in a collar after that little display tonight #MorganaCoven #CollarForMorgana #GetMorganaPreggers”

“Yeah dude did you see the way Nick was pulling her hair? She’s an M for sure”

“Cinder is also a total M”

“Yes, M for murderer”

“Just you watch, that’s a girl who likes it hard and rough. #CinderGang”

“We’re not calling it that, it’s #EllaGang”

“#HappilyEverAfter”

“How about we shove a crystal slipper up her ass if she’s gonna keep being such a bitch to everybody #SylviaSquad”

“She’s trying her best”

“Yeah to be annoying #DaniCrew”

“Dani stans have no right to comment about how annoying another girl is #GinaParty”

“What?! Cinder is ten times the menace you all were claiming Dani ws! Bias I say! #DaniCrew #Unapologetic #TomboySupremacy”

“lol imagine rooting for the one girl who wants Nick even less than Dani lmao”

“What about Amelia?”

“I said what I said #AmeliaClass”

“Incest fan spotted”

“Nick ain’t banging his stepmom bro, much as I want to see it it ain’t happening #VivianRebels”

“We’ll see about that. #AmeliaClass #GetAmeliaPreggers #IncestSimplyTheBest”

“If you want that demented stuff go watch Shar’s branch bro lots of family members getting knocked up there.”

“Dakota, who do you think you are, saying that about my branch, you cunt? If you think I’m going to take that snide remark lying down…”

“lol host in chat.”

“Rip Dakota lmao”

Dakota cleared her throat and decided to close the chat window. Little of substance was coming out of it at this point.

She leaned back in her couch and twirled her cane. The bounties had certainly done a lot of work to get things moving…

Now for the fun part.

With everyone in their beds getting ready to sleep, Dakota tapped her cane, and conjured one last bounty onto the board for now. It would be first come, first served to whoever left their room the next morning… and it would certainly be an exciting dilemma indeed.