Leon City Side Stories

Part 1
Chloe in the Woods

It was a pitch black night and a rusty pickup truck pulled into the remote parking lot, next to the cursed forest. The truck stopped and the hum of the engine died away as Chloe turned the key. She looked at the forest road, illuminated by her headlights and she licked her lips. Ever since she had spent that fun-filled day at C&T with her friends, her body had been craving more. She wanted to know what else was behind the walls of the fetish company, and she couldn't wait until the next event, if there even was one. She turned off the headlights of her car and got out. Her body was covered in a spandex catsuit, and she hoped to discover the wonders of the company in secret that way. She thought briefly of her friend Ifry, the restaurant owner who had advised her against going the thief's way all those years ago. Yet Chloe was not here to steal. But why not use her talents to satisfy her curiosity? Chloe closed the door of her car and walked to the forest path. The soles of her black sneakers barely made a sound on the asphalt of the parking lot, and Chloe hoped Ifry could forgive her for this little sin. Chloe turned on her cell phone flashlight and illuminated the path.

"Soooo, how far did we walk again… down the path to… was that an oak tree?" Chloe pondered aloud while trying to recall her visit, "Is that an oak tree?"

She pondered for a moment, realizing that none of the names of trees she knew could also be assigned to them. She scratched her temple and tilted her head as she stood in front of a tree similar to the one she remembered. Chloe stepped off the path and immediately felt doubt rise in her. Not only about whether this was the right path, but also moral questions. Should she really be doing this? What if she got caught and what if she and the others were never allowed back? But Chloe shook her head, shooing away those fears. She wouldn't get caught, she was far too good for that.

"Well, unless Ifry is right behind me again."

Chloe whirled around, but there was no sign of Ifry. She exhaled in relief and looked ahead again. Branches and bushes blocked her path, and Chloe pushed them aside and stepped boldly forward with her flashlight raised. She took a step forward and felt the ground no longer there.

"OH SHIT!" she cried out as she slid down a small slope and hit the forest floor hard. Chloe gasped and coughed as she struggled for air. She held her chest and fumbled for the light on her cell phone.

"Please don't be broken," she muttered with a blur, blinking several times to clear her vision. The phone hadn't taken a scratch, and she turned onto her back in relief. Dense bushes hid the slope she had just slithered down. Chloe groaned as she forced herself to stand and examined her body for any injuries, but nothing had happened to her and her catsuit was still whole.

"Lucky… but I can't get up there," Chloe muttered, studying the steep earth wall that loomed before her. She clicked her tongue disapprovingly and looked around. Nothing seemed familiar, and she tried to open her cell phone nav, but it didn't respond to her inputs. The screen flickered and displayed glitch messages. She hoped it wasn't the fault of the fall.

"Guess I'll have to find my way out of here on my own," Chloe said, heading toward the exit. At least, she thought she did. With each step she took, the trees became more spooky and the forest more uninviting, but Chloe didn't let that deter her and walked boldly forward until it cracked beneath her. She felt the ground give way beneath her again, but this time she was ready for it. She quickly spread her arms, causing her cell phone to fly to the forest floor and illuminate the trees. She just managed to catch herself and groaned as she hit the ground hard with her upper body for the second time.

"Bloody hell! What idiot is building pitfalls here!" she yelled and tried to free her legs from the hole, breathing heavily. She felt her legs catch on something in the hole that was holding her down, and she had to wrestle hard with herself not to just let go to see what it was. A branch cracked above Chloe and she immediately looked up. With her luck, she expected a thick log to come crashing down and strike her, but she froze as the light from her cell phone illuminated the canopy and hundreds of red eyes stared down at her. Her blood froze in her veins as she saw dozens of melon-sized spiders watching and slowly moving toward her. Immediately she began kicking with renewed zeal and ultimately managed to free her legs. White threads were wrapped around them and prevented her from taking long steps. She crawled to her cell phone because of this and then stood up, swaying. She didn't dare touch the threads with her hands for fear that they would get stuck, and ran as fast as her stuck legs would allow. Chloe heard the click of fangs, but she didn't dare look behind for fear of walking into another trap. She dodged a massive net and jumped over another pit as her legs became more and more tangled. At one point she could only hop and she was breathing heavily while sweat broke out all over her body. Only when she tripped and fell did she crawl to a nearby tree and look behind. None of the spiders seemed to have pursued her, but the appearance could be dull. She pointed the light of her cell phone upward toward the tree, but no spider was visible there either.

What the heck! Why are there such big spiders in the cursed forest! If people knew that, they would burn it down with napalm! Chloe thought, shaking herself and putting her phone away.

"Let's get out of here, I'm never coming back!" she cursed and tried to peel the threads from her legs, but to no avail. Annoyed, she looked around for a sharp rock, but faltered when she heard a buzzing sound.

"Hello?" she asked anxiously, but she didn't see another person or the spiders. She continued to listen strained and stood up should she have to hop away again. Chloe ultimately looked back up and saw a bee the size of a football flying up toward her. Chloe made eyes as big as plates, but she didn't dare make even a sound for fear that the bee would impale her. The huge insect landed on her blonde hair and Chloe had to pull herself together not to scream out loud for fear of provoking the bee.

Have I landed here on Skull Island? Chloe asked herself in panic, almost expecting a giant gorilla to reach for her in the next moment. She swallowed hard and suddenly felt something warm slowly spreading on her head. Chloe squinted up and saw that the bee had dumped a load of honey on her head, which was now slowly spreading over her hair, coloring it gold. Still, she continued to hold still until the honey flowed over her forehead and slowly approached her eyes.

"Come on, get the fuck out of here," Chloe muttered, and sure enough, the bee started buzzing again as it left her hair. She left behind another thick blob of honey that threatened to swallow Chloe's head. She quickly hopped away before the bee returned, trying to rid her hair of the honey at the same time, but it stuck to her. Chloe found that it quickly became tougher, turning her hands into useless fists as if they had been wrapped in duct tape. So she couldn't get her phone out to make light. Her vision got even worse as a golden brown smear settled over her face. Fortunately, it didn't block her airway, but this left her to find her way blindly through the forest. She tripped over what felt like a root and landed heavily on the forest floor again. Chloe could take no more. She was exhausted, tired, and she was shaking all over from her scary encounters.

It's no use… I need to calm down first. She thought and began to breathe deeply. She didn't notice that the roots turned out to be the vines that were native to the forest everywhere. Chloe knew them and had always been fascinated by them, even though they posed no real threat. At least not if you had free hands and feet. Much too late, she realized that a web of plants had wrapped itself around her entire body and was slowly tightening.

"No, not now please!" she cried desperately as she lost her useless fists to the plant and was slowly lifted up. Vines tied themselves around her legs, constricting her in addition to the strings. Chloe struggled with all her might, but the spiders and her attempts to escape had already sapped her of too much energy, and so she let herself hang, exhausted, while the tendrils devoured more and more of her body and the honey hardened. Chloe hung her head and sniffled loudly as a lump formed in her throat, she didn't hear footsteps coming up behind her and didn't see the person behind her shake her head in disappointment. She waved her hand briefly, the honey melted off Chloe's head and slapped the floor. Surprised, Chloe looked down and dried her tears on her shoulders.

"What are you doing here, Chloe?" an old familiar voice asked the blonde and Chloe gulped.

"Oh, um, hey Ifry, you couldn't help me down here by any chance?" asked Chloe in a trembling voice, looking around for the restaurant owner, but her restraints didn't allow her to see behind.

"Don't dodge my question, Chloe, what are you doing in the middle of the woods at this hour?"

"Well, I could ask you the same thing!" countered Chloe.

"I live in the cursed forest, whereas you live on the edge of Falenplaza, so… explanation please?"

Chloe exhaled deeply.

"I was going for a night walk."

"Chloe! I know you're lying!"

Chloe rolled her eyes, she had forgotten that her friend always knew when she was lying.

"I was going to C&T."

"Because?"

"Because I wanted to look at their products," Chloe said with her head down.

"Did you get an invitation from Celine?"

"No," Chloe muttered, blushing with embarrassment. Ifry exhaled deeply.

"So you were going to break in? After all you've been through and all I've done for you?"

"I wasn't going to steal anything…"

"It doesn't matter, Chloe, I thought you would have learned something from your past! What about your future? What about Kim? Do you want her to go back to your stepfather if you get killed out here?"

"No, I…" Chloe stammered, and she felt tears running down her cheeks again.

"Because that's exactly what almost happened, you stupid child!" yelled Ifry at her, and Chloe felt the tendrils loosen until they ultimately set her on the ground. Chloe turned around so she could thank her friend properly.

"Ifry, I…"

"Shut up, I don't want to hear!" commanded Ifry, walking up to Chloe to remove the cobwebs from her legs and the honey from her hands.

"Thank you," Chloe muttered, sniffling loudly. Ifry hesitated for a moment, shook her head and took Chloe in her arms. But before Chloe could enjoy the touch Ifry stepped back.

"I told you I didn't want to hear anything! Kneel down, hold out your hands!" said Ifry gruffly, and Chloe dropped to her knees and held out her hands.

"What are you going to do?" asked Chloe as Ifry pulled out a rope.

"Taking you to Celine, it's her forest and she will decide your fate."

"Her forest? Does that also mean the spiders and the bees…"

"All hers and especially nothing for mere mortals…" Ifry fell silent and bit her tongue.

"Ifry?"

"Shut up, Chloe," Ifry said, "I need to think."

"What do you mean by mere mortals?"

Ifry exhaled deeply until she wiped her face with her hand and her illusion magic dissipated, revealing her red eye and horn to Chloe.

"You could say I'm not from around here. Come now." Ifry said more gently and pulled on Chloe's leash.

Arriving at the clearing, the demoness knocked on the main house, and immediately light flared up. The door opened a crack and Chloe recognized the woman named Rilliana.

"Ifry is everything alright… why did you bring her here?" the blonde asked with her eyebrows drawn together when she saw Chloe.

"Chloe ran into some traps in the woods and she was trying to break into your house. I wanted to bring her to Celine so she could judge how to proceed."

Rilliana frowned and turned her head toward a door. Chloe could see pointed ears peeking out from under her hair.

"Celine's still sleeping," she said curtly.

"Can we come in then?"

Rilliana rubbed her eyes, nodded, and stepped aside so Ifry could enter with Chloe in tow.

"I'll, um, get you something to drink, wait in the living room," Rilliana said, disappearing into the kitchen.

"Ifry, what's going on? What are you?" asked Chloe as she was pushed into an armchair by her friend. Ifry took a deep breath and told Chloe her story.

Chloe stared open-mouthed at Ifry when she finished and looked to Rilliana, who was sipping from a cup of tea.

"And you're… she, no wait," she stuttered, but stopped when a door opened in the hallway and the owner of C&T herself stood before them in silk pajamas. She blinked briefly as she saw the demoness Ifry, the elf Rilliana, and the human girl Chloe, and said, "I'm going to need a glass of red wine for that."

"It's already here, Celine," Rilliana called out to her, raising a glass.

 

"So, you were going to break into our house?" asked Celine.

Chloe nodded.

"But not steal anything?"

Another nod.

"Well, Ifry strap this on her and let me sleep some more," Celine muttered, and stood up, swaying. She conjured a chastity belt in Ifry's hands and went back to her bedroom.

"Wait, you're not serious now," Chloe said, "You're telling and showing me magic and that I can't tell anyone about it and you're punishing me by giving me a chastity belt?"

"That's right. Did you think we'd turn you into a frog?" said Ifry, amused.

"Well… yes? How long do I have to wear this thing for?" asked Chloe.

"Pff, what do I know, it's Celine's punishment not mine," replied Ifry, and Chloe looked for help at the elf, who was just sipping her tea.

Part 2
Fetch quest

Celine groaned loudly as yet another order came in on her website.

"Come on, I thought I could take a weekend off!" she said, opening the email in frustration. But when she read who it was from, her expression brightened abruptly.

"What have you thought of this time, Summer?" muttered Celine as she carefully read through line after line, starting to grin with each one more. She hadn't known that people were reenacting the old days for fun these days. The pink haired girl wanted to rent her halls and enlist her help in making it a memorable event.

"Trishaaa, Rillianaaa? I need materials and lots of them!" she yelled, but no one answered. Celine clicked her tongue disapprovingly as she remembered that the two of them had gone to the coast and wouldn't actually be back until the weekend.

"At least I can tie them in when they return, but how do I get the materials I need?"

There was a knock on her front door and Celine looked up with a smile.

"Heaven sent you," the mage murmured and walked to the door. She opened it swingingly and smiled at the little angel Phaelyn.

"Hey Celine, are Rilliana and Trisha home?" the angel asked shyly, melting Celine's heart.

"Unfortunately no, Phaelyn, but you're just in time! Trisha already said you'd be dropping by occasionally in the future, and I figured I'd hire you at C&T! Because I really need your help!" explained Celine and the angel, at first sad that her friends weren't there, started to beam.

"Me, an employee at your company!" The angel bit her lip in anticipation and hopped from one foot to the other.

"What do I test first? A new vacuum bed or a catsuit? No, wait! You have a certain new…" Celine interrupted the waterfall of words as she squeezed Phaelyn's mouth shut.

"Calm down dear. What I really need right now are materials. Can you get me slime essence, cobwebs, sling plants, and iron?"

Phaelyn blinked. She had actually expected a more fun task.

"I thought you'd have more fun tasks for me…" Phaelyn muttered sheepishly.

"Well um," Celine was a little surprised by Phaelyn's statement, "Phae, I really need your help here and working sometimes involves less fun things. But rest assured your service won't be completely without fun and once we're done, this will be a memorable weekend for all of us!"

"For Ifry too?"

"If she feels like joining in, sure!"

"I won't let you down, Celine!" the angel said confidently, clenching her hands into fists and holding them in front of her chest, "But unfortunately the spiders won't give me any of their silk," Phaelyn said a little thoughtfully.

"Oh right, there was something… can you try to bring some of the spiders here then? I haven't been able to connect with them yet, unfortunately, so maybe now is the time."

The angel nodded again and spread his wings.

"I'll take care of everything right away!" she said, whirling up so much air as she flew off that Celine was almost thrown back into the house.

Phaelyn flew through the forest at such a fast pace that she arrived at her friends, the spiders, in record time. She stopped just short of their webs and landed on the forest floor.

"Anybody home?" she asked, tugging at a spider web to draw out its builders. It took a little while, but gradually the melon-sized spiders crawled out of their hiding places and gathered around Phaelyn. Some of them even came close enough for Phae to pet them. The colorful spiders had fluffy skins and tickled Phaelyn a little.

"Hey my friends," she murmured, patting a dark blue one she had encountered before, "I don't know if you understand what I want from you, but could you go to my boss Celine, she desperately needs your help with a project."

She earned confused looks from the eight-leggeds.

"Um…maybe with some magical help?"

Phaelyn concentrated and searched for her girlfriend Ifry's magic. After their collision, her magic had split between them, and she hoped that with their help, she could show the spiders where to go. She had felt she had communicated with the spiders before, but she had never given them an order.

"Spiders… go to Celine… please!" she said, uncertainly, touching the spiders with the demon magic. The animals looked at her for a moment and sure enough, some of them made their way to Celine's home.

"Yes!" cheered Phaelyn, waving after the spiders until she remembered she had to get more for Celine.

"Next up, the slimes," she muttered, flying quickly to a cave where there were often many of the creatures.

"Hellooo, slimes?" she called into the cave, but got no response, "I guess I have no choice but to go in."

She took a step into the darkness and stepped right into something sticky. Phaelyn didn't flinch though, but started to smile as she looked down and immediately found one of the many slimes.

"Hey little one, can you tell your friends that I need your help?" she asked kindly, but, in response, the slime only crawled further up her leg. It tickled her slightly where it touched her skin and she had to pull herself together not to giggle. Phaelyn bent down to brush the slime off her as she had learned to do, but suddenly another one landed on her back and knocked her off balance.

"Hey unfair!" she laughed, toppling forward onto the floor. But instead of making acquaintance with the hard rock, she landed face-first into more slime that had hidden in the darkness. All at once Phaelyn was stuck in the little creatures, which were now sucking themselves up to her one by one.

"Hey you little rascals, I'm afraid I don't have time to play, but Celine desperately needs your help, so could you…" At that moment, one of the slimes jumped into her face, silencing her. She could still breathe without problems, yet the attack had surprised her. She tried again to make contact with the slimes, as she had already done with the spiders, to make clear the seriousness of the situation, but the slimes only became more aggressive and buried Phaelyn under a mountain of monsters. She felt tingles all over her body and had to laugh as she was tickled by the slimes.

Only when the slimes gradually left her was Phaelyn able to free herself from the remains of the monsters. They had left a giant cube around her, from which she struggled free and ultimately plopped out. Exhausted, covered in slime, but happy, she cast a spell that would bring the cube to Celine.

"So now the plants," Phaelyn said, spreading her wings again. She shot steeply upward and saw too late that there was a web of vines above her. She instantly became entangled in them and was flung about by the force, so that she was stuck upside down in the vines. One plant had wrapped itself around one of her legs and another around her torso, pinning her arms to her side. A little woozy from the sudden hold, Phae shook her head.

"I guess Ifry's right, I shouldn't be racing like this," she muttered guiltily and quickly extricated herself from the tendrils; she didn't have time to play, after all. She followed the source of the tendrils and dug out the smaller specimens along with the root and let them fly after the slime essence.

Celine was creating a design for the priestess costume when suddenly there was a loud crash outside her house. Her pen slipped, ruining the picture.

"Oh come on," she muttered, casting a spell to remove the excess ink before getting up to check on the troublemaker. She opened the door and looked down at Phaelyn, who stood in front of her, covered from top to bottom in slime and dirt, grinning at her.

"I'm done Celine! Can we play now?" she asked.

"Done? You were just half an hour…", Celine was about to say when she saw behind Phaelyn a huge hunk of metal standing in her driveway, a slime cube bigger than anything she had ever harvested before as well as a dozen vines and twenty of her spiders standing neatly in two rows one behind the other, saluting.

"Um…come in dear and get cleaned up…I…we need to do a little decorating," Celine said, showing the little angel the shower.

The test hall will be unrecognizable after all the ideas she's come up with. Summer and her friends will love it, thought Celine and hugged the angel tightly to her chest.

"Best employee ever," whispered Celine.

"Hehe."

Part 3
Kinks and Roleplay

"Hey Rilliana, great that this all worked out and we get to play D&D at your place," Summer said, beaming and shaking the blonde woman's hand. This time the C&T employee was dressed much more normally, in a blouse and jeans instead of the latex catsuit from last time. She had been waiting for them outside the forest again.

"Well, Celine had to pull some levers, but she just about made it work," Rilliana said with a smile, extending her hand to Tea, who had just gotten out.

"What do you mean? We just needed a cool location for our game and a decent place to sleep, didn't we?" said Summer in irritation, and Rilliana seemed a little confused as well when she saw Summer's huge backpack of D&D equipment, books and dice.

"Um, I guess there was a little misunderstanding then… I hope you're not too disappointed," Rilliana said, rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

"Well, surely a table can be found quickly, right?" asked Tea.

"Sure, but I think you should hear what Celine has to say first. You probably won't need that stuff," Rilliana said, pointing to Summer's backpack. She watched as another car arrived, this time with Caitlyn, Chloe, Ava, and Kim inside. The latter had a pout because Luke couldn't be with them.

"Welcome back," Rilliana said, shaking everyone's hands and giving Chloe an amused look since she had already visited uninvited a week ago. She wore a special steel belt because of it, which was not easy to remove. Her cheeks were flushed, and she looked frustrated.

"It's good to see you all back. And you even brought reinforcements. My name is Rilliana and you are?" asked Rilliana smiling and squeezing Kim's hand.

"I'm Kim, Chloe is my big sister. I was supposed to go to the movies with my boyfriend, but unfortunately he got sick." said Kim shyly.

"Oh, I'm really sorry to hear that. Tell him to get well soon. But I hope you have a good time at today's role play!" said Rilliana, leading the small group of women ahead into the forest.

"I don't know so far, I've never played D&D," Kim said and Ava joined in.

"I can't imagine it either," she said, hoping to get a more detailed explanation from Rilliana.

"Well, there were some communication issues, so it's not going to be D&D, assuming you're flexible there," Rilliana said, shaking her head, "Celine will explain."

When the women reached a particular tree, Rilliana lifted a branch and they bent under it to enter Celine's clearing. Only Chloe remained standing next to Rilliana, studying the tree.

"Is something wrong?" asked Rilliana curiously.

"I thought I went through here when I…"

"Broke in?" Rilliana completed the sentence, "Not even close Chloe. You might want to walk through the woods more often."

Rilliana laughed in amusement as Chloe made a contrite face and walked under the branch, into the clearing with the others. Celine stood on a platform waiting for Chloe to join them. She had a long and tight red latex dress, reminiscent of a sexy mage's robe. Rilliana stood next to her and smiled as the ladies whispered among themselves. Celine cleared her throat loudly and immediately the conversation died down.

"Welcome ladies, I would like to invite you today for a nice round of… D&D?…"

She interrupted herself as Rilliana tugged at her dress. They whispered briefly and Celine blushed as the blonde explained what D&D was.

"Oh um, that went partially stupid then of course, what am I going to do with the costumes?"

"Costumes?" asked Summer, Chloe and Tea as if from the same mouth.

"Well, I thought Summer wanted to do a real adventure in my test hall and of course costumes can't be missing. If I had known you guys were going to do a dice game, then…"

"Well… we were expecting something else, but I've always wanted to join a LARP," Caitlyn said, and Summer nodded eagerly. Celine looked irritatedly at Rilliana, who waved it off and whispered, "Just go along like you wanted, I'll explain the nerd terms later."

"Um, fine. Just as I was about to say… You will change again in the lobby, but this time you will not each put on the same latex costume, there are differences among them, so choose wisely." Celine noticed the new girl in the group spoke up, "Yes darling?"

"Did you say latex? Would something else do, I can't stand the smell…", Kim said almost in a whisper. Again Rilliana tugged at Celine's dress and whispered something in her ear. Celine made a shocked expression.

"Oh, sweetie, that's no problem. As long as you don't mind the way it feels on your skin," she said hastily, shooing Rilliana into the cabin. Kim shook her head and Celine breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fine, once you've changed, you'll come down to the basement. There you will receive your mission and you will have to pass trials of various kinds and fight monsters. Yes, Ava?" asked Celine as once again one of the girls spoke up.

"Monsters? We don't have to fight your disguised employees now, do we?" asked Ava.

"Well let's say not only. But don't worry, your costumes will protect you and the… monsters from injury and um simulate if you take damage or are defeated." This time, everyone spoke up.

What did Celine mean by ‘simulate damage’ and especially ‘monsters’? They thought, with Chloe having a rough idea and hoping it wasn't what she thought it was.

"No questions about that, please, it's classified. Just let yourselves be surprised. Your adventure begins as soon as you enter the cabin, so be warned! And before I forget, no matter what happens down there, what you feel or think, it's all part of the game and you, my employees, or the monsters won't be exposed to any real danger. I think that's all, why don't you go ahead and get into costume, I'd like to borrow Chloe for a minute."

The women all looked at Chloe, who all of a sudden was blushing even more as all eyes rested on her, but they shrugged their shoulders and went to the small hut, just like last time. Celine waited until her friends entered the hut and turned to the blonde.

"And how do you like the chastity belt?" the magician asked with an amused smile. Chloe reached through her loose clothing for the steel around her waist and stared pleadingly up at Celine.

"Please take it off me, I can't take this anymore. I… I can't think straight anymore, I… I beg you!"

"Mmmmh, indeed the belt is a bit of a hindrance with the costumes… how long have you had it on now?"

"Over a week!"

Celine breathed a long sigh and considered, until an amused grin appeared on her lips.

"Tell you what, I'll take it off your body, as long as you do something for me," Celine offered.

"Please, I'll do anything, just take this devilish thing off me!" pleaded Chloe.

"Really anything?" asked Celine, getting off her pedestal and putting an arm around her shoulder. Chloe swallowed. She had already met a demoness in Ifry, but Celine looked like the devil herself at that moment.

When the women entered the hut, they saw Rilliana standing next to some boxes, with her adorable smile on her lips as always.

"With that, your adventure has begun! Please choose your costume first, it will determine your class and thus your abilities."

"Okay? How are we supposed to understand this?" asked Caitlyn, looking at the boxes. They were marked with different symbols, and Caitlyn immediately noticed one with a sword and shield.

"Well, I understand that," she said, pushing the heavy box into the locker room.

"Well, that's pretty obvious to me too, but this?" asked Summer curiously, stroking a box with a wand painted on a flame.

"Put it on and find out," was all the blonde said. Summer snorted at being left in the dark once again and instead grabbed the box, which only had a large sword on it, and disappeared behind another curtain. Tea grabbed the box with the wand.

"I like the unknown. I hope I get to throw some fireballs!" she said with a laugh, not believing it herself. Kim, meanwhile, stood in front of the remaining three boxes, one with a bow, one with a dagger, and the last one had praying hands on it. Ava stood next to her and studied the boxes with her.

"Do you know how to use a bow?" Kim asked her and Ava shrugged.

"I was in a club for a while, but it's been forever," the brunette muttered, but picked up the box, "Or would you like it?"

"Um, I don't know, to be honest. I think I'll take what's left." Answered Kim sheepishly, looking to the door as it finally opened and Chloe entered the cabin with Celine. The head of C&T smiled at the young blonde and walked down the stairs to the testing room.

"What did Celine want from you?" asked Kim of her sister, who seemed relieved and smiled happily.

"She just relieved me of a big burden that has been plaguing me for the past week," Chloe said mysteriously, putting an arm around her little sister.

"So what do we have left? Thief and priest?" asked Chloe.

"I think so…" replied Kim.

"Would you be okay with me taking the thief?" asked Chloe, and Kim giggled.

"I frankly didn't expect anything else," Kim said, grabbing the rather light box. She headed into a locker room, leaving Chloe and Rilliana alone.

"Are you okay?" asked Rilliana curiously.

"Yeah, everything's fine, Celine just had a funny idea. I guess I'll take this box then." she said and Rilliana nodded appreciatively.

"I wore the same one a few years ago,… have fun with it," Rilliana said and went down the stairs to get ready. Chloe would have liked to go down with her to see what the mages were up to down there, but she had a feeling that wasn't a good idea until she had changed.

"Well then," she said to herself, taking the box of thieves under her arm.

Ava was the first to emerge from behind the curtain, waiting for her friends in the lobby. She had a long green latex cape draped around her shoulders, hiding a latex body that was also dark green. Her arms were protected by brown gloves that went to above her elbows. Her legs were in brown overknees-stumps, which in turn were in boots. A bow, dagger and quiver of arrows rounded out the outfit of a ranger.

"My parents would kill me if they saw me," Ava muttered, shaking her head as she studied herself in a mirror in the lobby. She lifted her right leg and stroked it with her hand.

"That, however, looks so hot, Ava," she said to herself as Summer emerged from her cubicle. Her outfit consisted only of a latex bra, a matching skirt that had slits on its sides for more leg room, and boots that came up to her knees like Ava's.

"What did you say, Ava?" asked Summer with an amused grin, shouldering an unnaturally wide and long sword.

"Nothing!" said Ava hastily, "What kind of sword did they give you? Can you even wield it with your puny little arms?"

"I had my doubts too at first, but it's not real…at least I hope it isn't," Summer said, performing a few strokes as a test. Each powerful and almost unnaturally fast.

"Wow," said Tea, who just brushed aside the curtain to reveal a fitted blue dress. It covered her breasts and then faded to black, covering her arms. A dark blue hat sat on her head and in her hand she held a large wooden staff almost as tall as she was. 

"Summer, you look great!"

"I look great? I'm barely wearing anything," the pink-haired one laughed, but admired Tea's mage robe.

"Of course you look smashing too, Ava!" who just nodded with a smile and in the next moment slapped her hand over her mouth as Chloe and her little sister Kim came out of their cubicles.

"Oh my… Kim! You look stunning!" said Ava, walking over to her. While Chloe had a simple black latex catsuit with a cape and daggers, Kim wore a bright white latex robe with long wide sleeves and golden embellishments. Underneath she wore a dark red shirt tucked into a skirt. Her legs were in overknee boots and in her hands she held a similar sized staff as Tea, but hers was made of a golden metal. It had an unknown symbol on its tip with two rings hanging down from it. Kim's face was so flushed that she feared her head would explode.

"Thank you," Kim whispered, burying her face in her hands.

"Awww, she's a little shy, guys. Give her some space!" said Chloe, giving her sister a protective hug.

"Don't babble, Chloe, you just want Kim all to yourself!" shouted Ava and Summer and Tea agreed. They crowded around Kim to gaze at her as Caitlyn swept aside her curtain. She saw her friends besieging poor Kim and Chloe and stomped her shield on the floor. A thunderous sound interrupted the women's whispering and they all looked to Caitlyn. The young policewoman was wearing a combination of blue latex and silver metal. Her chest was covered by a breastplate as well as her hips. The loose dress that lay underneath fell down to her ankles and hid heavy metal boots.

"Can we get started then?" she asked, showing her white teeth as she straightened one of her metal gloves and then pulled the shield from the ground, resting her other hand on the pommel of her longsword. The others smiled back and with Caitlyn leading the way, they headed down to their role-playing adventure.

 

The six women in costume walked through the archway into the hall lit with twilight. Artificial trees were lined up all around, giving the impression that they were standing in a dark forest. The women could make out a path and since they had no other clues, they followed it.

"Mmh, too bad, I thought we'd start in a tavern with a mystery man sitting in the corner," Summer said with a laugh.

"Is that some kind of unwritten law that every adventure has to start that way?" asked Tea.

"Yup," said Summer.

"What about the Lord of the Rings? The adventure didn't start that way." interjected Chloe.

"What about Aragorn?" asked Caitlyn.

"Oh."

"Hey, do you think that's our life bar?" asked Tea suddenly, and everyone looked back at her. She pointed to the sleeve of her latex dress. On it was a green bar.

"Didn't you read the instructions?" asked Summer in shock, pointing to her gloves, which had a circle in green and one in blue, "Green is for our lives and blue is for our abilities."

"Abilities?" asked Tea, puzzled, but she was interrupted.

"Hey, there's something up ahead!" said Ava, pointing ahead. In front of them was an overturned carriage and several people were lying spread out around it.

"What happened here?" asked Kim anxiously, holding her staff tightly with both hands.

"Probably got ambushed… Look for survivors and clues," Caitlyn said, hurrying over to one of the guards lying on the ground. Caitlyn had to grin when she saw that it was some kind of mannequin. Its back was pierced with arrows and fake blood oozed from the wounds.

"Here's something! I found footprints leading away from the carriage!" exclaimed Ava, beckoning her friends to join her.

"They lead deeper into the forest," Chloe noted, peeking between the trees. Caitlyn noticed that Chloe briefly opened her eyes and wanted to say something, but remained silent.

"Chloe are you okay did you see anything?"

"No, no, I thought I did, but there was nothing," Chloe said, "I'll check the carriage again, I think I saw a clue there."

Chloe went back to the carriage while the others brooded over the footprints. Caitlyn, however, looked intently into the woods when she saw something glinting among the bushes. She narrowed her eyes, then Caitlyn snapped them open like Chloe.

"Everyone down!" she yelled, raising her shield protectively and leaping in front of her friends. And not a moment too soon, for at that moment an arrow shot through the bushes, ricocheting off Caitlyn's shield. Kim immediately dropped to the ground, while Tea and Ava took cover behind Caitlyn. Summer, however, stood next to Caitlyn and tried to spot the shooter.

"Summer, I said get down!"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. That arrow was super slow." retorted Summer, starting to smile when she saw the glint in the bushes.

"Raaaaaahhhh!" She suddenly yelled and ran straight towards the shooter.

"Summer stop!" shouted Caitlyn frantically, and another arrow shot out of the bushes. This time at the pink-haired barbarian. Summer struck with her sword and managed to slice the projectile in mid-air. Spurred on by their success, Tea and Ava darted out from behind Caitlyn and ran forward as well.

"Guys wait!" ordered Caitlyn but the women didn't seem to listen to her.

"Hahahaha! Children's play!" laughed Summer only and kept running. At that moment she stepped on a thin wire that was stretched across the ground and triggered a trap. A net came shooting out of a bush to Summer's left and wrapped itself around the pink-haired berserker. Surprised, she dropped her sword and toppled over as she lost her balance. Ava and Tea stopped, startled, while Caitlyn struggled to follow behind.

"Son of a bitch!" yelled Summer, and she could be heard struggling against the net. The rope was pulled back and she disappeared into the brush.

"Don't just stand there, take cover!" shouted Caitlyn to the other two but too late. Another arrow shot at Tea, who was standing still. The arrow hit her in the shoulder and she cried out in surprise and pain. Ava quickly jumped behind a nearby tree as another arrow shot in her direction, narrowly missing. Caitlyn came to a stop next to Tea and pointed her shield in the direction of the sniper.

"Are you okay?" she asked, a little out of breath. The heavy latex dress and metal in her armor slowed her down and stole her stamina.

"Yeah, they simulate the damage with electric shocks," Tea said awkwardly, showing her life bar, which had gotten smaller and turned yellow.

"How nasty," Caitlyn commented, deflecting the next arrow, "can you cast a spell that can drive the shooter out of there?"

Ava nodded and peeked out from behind Caitlyn's shield, before raising her staff, pressing a button on it and saying, "Okay, all or nothing…FIREBALL!"

For a second, nothing happened and Tea was about to sulk and toss the staff aside and pick up Summer's sword when a fireball shot out of it. Caitlyn's, Ava's, and Tea's mouths dropped open as the ball shot toward the shooter's position and exploded with a deafening bang.

"HOW!?" asked Ava, and Tea looked at the stick as if it were dynamite.

"Look out!" Caitlyn shouted, immediately regaining her composure. She saw a dark-clad figure running toward her, blade drawn. The attacker struck at Caitlyn, but she warded off the blow with her shield. Ava shot an arrow herself, which narrowly missed. The attacker looked in Ava's direction and she could see a smile under the mask. Caitlyn struck with her sword, but the blow also missed as the attacker deftly dodged and ran to Ava.

"Oh shit," she muttered and ran away.

"Ava stay here! I'm not that fast!" Caitlyn gasped and was about to chase after her when a golden staff appeared from a bush and surprised the attacker. He received it full force against his head and instantly slumped.

Out of the bush stood a broadly grinning Kim, who had snuck up on them without either of them noticing. Behind her, a worried looking Chloe.

"Good job Kim! Can you maybe heal Tea's injury?" said Caitlyn proudly, tousling Kim's blonde hair. She nodded eagerly and went to Tea. Her staff lit up and Tea's bar climbed back into the green zone. Caitlyn nodded in satisfaction and stepped up to the attacker while giving Chloe a crooked look.

"Where have you been?" she asked Chloe, leaning down.

"Oh, I was looking for clues, as I said, and I didn't realize we were attacked at first," Chloe said, guiltily raising her hand to her forehead, "After that, I wanted to get Kim to safety."

"But I wanted to fight too!" said Kim indignantly.

"And you did," Caitlyn said, pulling the black latex mask off her attacker's head. It was Rilliana. She had pointed ears sprouting from her blonde hair. The blow seemed to have knocked her completely out.

"She dressed up as an elf? How cool is that?" asked Ava, but Caitlyn had a feeling that something was wrong with the costume, but said nothing about it and turned to Ava.

"Ava, can you go check on Summer and Chloe make yourself useful and tie up Rilliana. I'm sure she has clues for our quest." Caitlyn ordered, tossing Chloe a rope that had been hanging from Rilliana's waist.

 

Rilliana's eyes snapped open and she winced as four women stood around her, staring at her from scowling to curious. She instantly noticed that her hands were tied behind her back, but she also noticed a weak spot or two in the knot.

"Why did you attack us, elf!" Caitlyn barked at her and Rilliana had to grin unintentionally.

She's really getting into character. Thought Rilliana and said, "Will you let me live if I tell you?"

"We can't let her live! She was going to shoot us!" shouted Tea and everyone stared at her open-mouthed.

"Don't worry, it's all part of the game," Rilliana whispered to reassure them, "I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"Um, good! We'll let you live, so… why did you attack us?" asked Caitlyn as she picked up the thread.

"A girl has to earn some food, doesn't she?"

Chloe immediately nodded in agreement. Caitlyn, however, was still not convinced.

"Sure, that's why you set up an extra trap at the robbed carriage. Speak the truth!"

Rilliana just shrugged her shoulders and crossed her legs. At that moment, Ava joined them again and shook her head.

"I couldn't find Summer anywhere," she said bitterly.

"Where's Summer?" asked Kim, holding her staff menacingly under Rilliana's nose.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Careful where you point that, young lady!" said Rilliana, panic in her voice, "Summer was taken by my people. The red witch will take care of her."

"Red Witch?" asked Caitlyn, pushing Kim's staff aside. Rilliana breathed a sigh of relief.

"My mistress. She is the true ruler of this land and not that wannabe princess Phaelynia!"

"Hey, I found that name on a letter in the carriage!" exclaimed Chloe, pulling a piece of paper from her pocket, "It says here that the princess was pursued and is asking for help. Unfortunately, however, she was unable to send the letter."

"And you're just coming up with this now?" asked Caitlyn indignantly, pulling the letter from Chloe's fingers and turning away from Rilliana to take a look at it in peace. The others were reading along over her shoulder, but Chloe had already summarized it well.

"So you not only have Summer, but Princess…" Caitlyn said, turning back to Rilliana, but the elf had disappeared. The only trace of her was the bondage rope, which lay useless on the floor.

"She's gone!" said Chloe in surprise, and Caitlyn felt as if she had said that just to rub salt in the wound.

"I guess we'll see her again," Caitlyn said, rolling her eyes.

"Is… this our quest? Save the princess from the red witch?" asked Tea, and Ava nodded in agreement.

"Sounds plausible… and Summer… maybe so."

Everyone had to laugh except Tea, who just shook her head but couldn't help smiling.

 

Summer lay on her back in the net, kicking as if her life depended on it. But it only seemed to wrap around her tighter and her captor, Ifry, didn't seem to care about her fussing either. So Summer started hurling insults at the demoness' head and quickly Ifry wished she could have gagged Summer.

"Put me down already, you pointy-eared, horned…"

"Silence human or I will eat you for breakfast," Ifry interrupted the nagging woman and shook Summer through. She used her magically amplified voice for this, which made her seem deeper and more demonic.

"Bah! I'm not going to let some run-of-the-mill demon tell me what to do and what not to do! Feel my rage!" shouted Summer, pinching Ifry's butt through the net.

"HEY, you little…" Ifry cried out, losing her magical voice before she could catch herself again, "Well wait, I have something very special planned for you!"

She entered a secret passage that served as a shortcut to her chambers and threw the net, along with Summer, onto a pedestal on which a steel plate was mounted.

"Ha, you want to sacrifice me to your mistress? If you do, my spirit will haunt you forever!"

Why do I even believe her? Thought Ifry and stuffed the biggest ball gag she had available into Summer's mouth. The demoness freed Summer from the net, but she didn't give her time to fight back or run away and put Summer's limbs into holes in the metal plate. Her legs were now up to her knees and her arms were gone up to her shoulders. Summer's scowl changed as her eyes darted nervously over her predicament.

"So let's apply the finishing touches," Ifry said, pressing a button. Just above Summer's belly on the ceiling, a flap opened and out flowed honey from the resident bees. It flowed over Summer's belly, giving it a golden hue. Summer couldn't help but moan loudly into the gag as Ifry began massaging the warm substance onto her body. It became thicker and thicker as it cooled until ultimately Summer seemed to have melted into the metal plate and the honey had completely hardened. Her head was also fixed and encased by the honey, but there was still a cold breeze at her crotch. Summer's eyes darted back and forth nervously. She couldn't see far through the golden veil and only in a blur.

"Now just your arms and legs so they don't get in my way," Ifry muttered more to herself than to Summer, lifting the metal plate with ease. Ifry grabbed Summer's useless wriggling limbs and tied them together with leather straps.

"Let's see if you're well balanced."

Ifry put her arm through another leather loop and grabbed a metal handle. She held the metal disc in front of her and turned to a mirror. Summer could just barely see herself in it and gulped when she saw that Ifry had transformed it into a formidable shield. A sword of almost ridiculous length and width stood next to the mirror, just waiting to be wielded by the demoness.

"Your friends will not save you or the princess… and you will forever be but an ornament on my shield. Frozen in time and doomed to serve me with your body MUAHAHAHAHA!"

Summer knew this was all a game… but what if it wasn't? What if she really did have to spend the rest of her life as a shield?

Damn, why am I getting so warm now! Summer thought, not noticing that her cheeks were turning red and her crotch was starting to drip.

 

"Am… am I imagining it, or is it suddenly getting darker?" asked Kim anxiously, nervously twirling her staff, close to her body in her hands.

"I think you're right, Kim," Tea murmured, glancing at the artificial trees that seemed to be growing ever denser. Their bony branches reached out for the heroines and cobwebs occasionally clung to their clothing.

"I'm out of here if I see a spider around!" commented Ava.

"Ava come on, we need you. Without your good eyes, we never would have found Rilliana's trail," Caitlyn cheered her up and patted her shoulder.

"Hey, what's that in the trees?" asked Chloe suddenly, pointing upward. Her friends looked up and Ava winced when she saw a melon-sized spider watching them from a branch.

"Spi… Spi… Spider!" stuttered Ava, stumbling away from the spider.

"Ava calm down, they're just…" shouted Caitlyn but she was interrupted by Chloe, "OH DAMN, THEY'RE MOVING!"

The spider scrambled onto a higher branch and Ava instantly lost her nerve, turning on her heel and running screaming off the path into the dark forest until her cape disappeared fluttering behind the trees.

"Ava, come back here. CHLOE fucking hell, the spider crawled away!" shouted Caitlyn, going to chase after Ava when Chloe held her back.

"I'm sorry… I'll go get her. Please take care of my sister." said Chloe and ran after Ava. When her cloak also disappeared behind the trees, Caitlyn looked at Tea.

"Do you have problems with spiders?" asked Caitlyn, and Tea shook her head.

"No more than anyone else… though they're certainly chubby. But I think my spells can keep them at bay."

"Good… please go after Chloe unnoticed and get them both back. I don't trust her."

Kim looked at the armored woman in shock, but Tea nodded.

"You're right. There is something wrong with her," Tea said, walking after the women.

"How can you say that!" said Kim accusingly, and Caitlyn put her armored hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Kim, don't you see? She stayed out of the fight and withheld information until she could use it to help Rilliana escape. I bet she didn't tie Rilliana up properly, there's a reason I put Chloe in charge of tying her up. Between us, she knows ropes best."

"Everybody makes mistakes…" whispered Kim, looking into the woods where her sister had disappeared.

"I hope it was just that Kim…" muttered Caitlyn, following her gaze.

 

"Avaaaa! Where are youuuu?" cried Chloe, smiling, as she played with the dagger and followed the trail of torn spider webs. She rounded a corner and suddenly found herself in front of a cave.

"She didn't really go in here, did she?" muttered Chloe, but she heard Ava's rapid breathing echoing through the cave.

"Let's go then," Chloe said, walking after Ava. She tilted her head slightly to the side as she heard someone behind her.

"Two for the price of one… perfect."

 

Ava leaned against a wall, trying to get her breathing back under control. She covered her eyes and prayed she wasn't attacked by one of those monsters.

"Avaaaaaa…"

Ava listened up as she heard her own name.

"Chloe?" asked Ava, sniffling loudly.

"Avaaaaaaa…"

Ava stumbled, why did Chloe say her name so sinisterly. It sent a shiver down her spine and didn't help her feel better.

"Avaaaaaaaa…" An ominous scratching sound broke the silence of the cave as Chloe drew her dagger along the rock wall.

"Chloe, cut the crap!" shouted Ava at Chloe, breaking away from the wall.

"But this is so much fun… hehehe. Also, I want you to meet some of my friends."

"Friends?" asked Ava, fearing the worst. Three of the melon spiders scrambled around the corner toward Ava, fleeing from Chloe's sparking dagger.

"HIIIIII! CHLOEEE!" Ava turned on the spot and ran deeper into the cave.

"Ava come back here! I was just kidding!" shouted Chloe after her, but Ava could tell by her voice that she was lying. Ava ran through the corridors in the twilight of the cave and just managed to avoid a cliff that led down into the darkness. This caused her to hit a jutting rock and stumble. Ava lost her balance and fell head first into a massive spider web hanging in the middle of the path.

"No… NO NO NO!" screamed Ava, pulling at her arms, but she was stuck. The threads were sticking to her bare skin and latex clothing. The more she squirmed, the more hopeless her situation became, until all at once she lost her footing and kicked helplessly. The spiders came running around the corner and ran under Ava, further away from Chloe, who was behind Ava moments later.

"Oh look who fell into my web," Chloe said, licking her lips.

"Get me down from here right now!"

"Well, I wouldn't want to get stuck myself. Besides, here comes the very own of the net… I'd rather watch that from over here."

"What?" asked Ava, looking up. Eight red eyes stared down at Ava. The spider, which was perched on the edge of the web, was larger than the other spiders and shone pitch black, as if it were made of latex.

"CHLOE! HELP ME DOWN HERE IMMEDIATELY!" screamed Ava again, but fell silent when the spider opened its mouth and fired cobwebs from it at Ava's mouth to silence her.

"Oh interesting…" muttered Chloe, watching as the spider approached Ava. She placed herself sideways to Ava and began spinning the woman around, spraying her with threads at the same time. The wet strings stuck to Ava and contracted. Chloe stood by the whole time and just smiled. Ava's eyes disappeared under the threads and only now did Chloe turn around. She froze as she stared into Tea's accusing eyes.

Damn, I completely forgot about Tea! Thought Chloe.

"So you really did switch sides!" said Tea accusingly, pointing her wand at Chloe, "Just give me a reason!"

"If you hit," Chloe said, assuming a fighting pose. Tea narrowed her eyes and yelled, "FIREBALL!"

Again a fireball shot from her staff, but Chloe had already anticipated the spell and rolled across the floor to avoid the flames. She ran the short distance to Tea and the surprised brunette stumbled back. Chloe took advantage of the weak spot in her friend's guard and shoved her. Tea slipped away and fell down the cliff, which the three of them just managed to avoid. She let go of her staff at the last moment and it sailed into the abyss while she still managed to hold onto the edge.

"Ohohoh. A mage without his staff?"

"Help… help me up! Chloe please, I can't hold on much longer!" Tea called up to her, but Chloe just laughed.

"HAHAHA. Are you serious, Tea? I'm having the time of my life right now! Roleplaying is so much fun! I have an idea for the next scene too!"

"Please Chloe!" pleaded Tea, her eyes wide as she looked into Chloe's cold eyes.

 Chloe knelt down to Tea and grabbed her hands, which had begun to shake. Tea's mouth once again formed the word please before Chloe began to grin broadly and bent down to her so she could understand her whisper.

"Long live the red witch!"

That was all she heard before Chloe pushed her hands off the edge and Tea fell screaming into the dark abyss. Chloe stood up contentedly and waited, staring further into the abyss for a brief moment before turning her gaze to Ava. The large spider had disappeared and instead the smaller spiders were now crawling over the web to better secure Ava.

"Soooo, Ava I'm sorry it went down like this, but I really needed to get rid of this chastity belt for good. The red witch had me on her payroll from the start, so don't feel bad that you fell for me," Chloe said to the trembling bundle, "But don't worry, Rilliana assured me that the melon spiders are super nice. You're in good hands… or threads?"

"MMMHHHFFF!" screamed Ava into her gag, wriggling in her cocoon. Chloe briefly considered just leaving Ava alone now, but thought the blindfold the big spider had given her was too evil. She approached Ava and pulled away the few strings over her eyes. Ava blinked and immediately winced when she saw one of the melon spiders crawling over her wrapped body.

"Don't worry, they won't hurt you, look," Chloe repeated, showing Ava how to stroke one of them over its fluffy blue fur. Ava drew her eyebrows together and mumbled something unintelligible into the gag.

" Yeaha sorry, I'm not going to get that one off. Otherwise you'll be calling for help. You can make friends with the spiders though. Alright then, see you around," Chloe said, waving goodbye to Ava.

 

It had gotten even darker in the testing hall. Caitlyn guessed it was to simulate a night, but it all looked so frighteningly real.

"Kim, dear, can you turn on the lights?" asked Caitlyn, looking ahead. Kim nodded and pushed her wand to the ground. Immediately, the symbol at the tip of Kim's staff lit up, illuminating the dark forest.

"Where do you think the others are?" asked Kim.

"I don't know… but something tells me something went terribly wrong," Caitlyn muttered, looking up as she noticed movement in bushes.

"Get behind me," Caitlyn said, drawing her sword. A woman stepped out of the shadows and the two heroines got an amused look from her.

"Well, well, well. You really were stupid enough to follow me," Rilliana said condescendingly, tilting her head to the side, "Looks like you lost a few of your comrades? I wonder how they're doing."

"Don't worry, I just have to wait for them to come back and then you'll get the next fireball thrown in your face." Caitlyn bluffed and stood protectively in front of Kim.

"Oh a time limit? How fun, I guess we shouldn't waste time then should we?"

Rilliana drew two daggers, bent forward and sprinted towards Caitlyn. Quick as a flash, she slashed at Caitlyn with her weapons, but the young policewoman managed to block each attack, at the last moment. Caitlyn found a break in the elf's attacks and lashed out with her sword.

"Cait watch out!" shouted Kim but too late. Caitlyn had no time to react as another person jumped out of the bushes and attacked her. A sword struck her shoulder and a glaring pain pierced Caitlyn as an electric shock simulated the wound. She gritted her teeth and slashed with her sword toward the new attacker, but she deftly dodged backward and casually placed her hands on her hips. She had cat ears poking out from her dark hair, as well as a matching tail. The catgirl wore the same latex catsuit as Rilliana and a whip rested on her hip. She too, could be seen grinning under the mask.

"Hehe, I like that one, Rilli. She's got fighting spirit! I'm going to enjoy playing with her."

"Remember Trisha. The red witch wants her alive, hehe." said Rilliana, gripping her weapons tighter.

"Both of them? Can't we at least keep the little one?"

Kim winced in shock and made herself very small behind Caitlyn's back.

"You're right, she looks cute… what the witch doesn't know…"

"You're not going to lay a finger on Kim!" cried Caitlyn, quietly telling Kim, "Heal me and run the first chance you get. Find your sister and the others."

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine!" said Caitlyn confidently, raising her sword ready to attack, "Not my first fight outnumbered."

"Still…I…I think I have an idea which can help you," Kim whispered, raising her staff and healing the simulated wound which was tingling all the while, "Stand by."

Caitlyn frowned, but nodded. The bandits glanced at each other and ran towards Caitlyn in the next moment. Kim was prepared for this and cast her next spell. Her staff shone a dazzling light behind Caitlyn, illuminating the trees for a brief moment. Rilliana and Trisha were blinded and stumbled forward as they lost their balance on the uneven ground.

"Perfect!" shouted Caitlyn, running toward them as Kim took refuge among the trees. Caitlyn slashed her sword in Trisha's direction, hitting her weapon, which she lifted, blinking at the last moment. She clicked her tongue in disapproval, but Rilliana was not so lucky. The elf opened her eyes and was surprised by Caitlyn's shield, which was suddenly only a hand's width from her nose. She flew backwards in a high arc as Caitlyn rammed it, full force, into her face. The elf groaned as she landed on the ground and remained motionless. Trisha immediately backed away to collect herself and cast a horrified glance at her girlfriend.

"That's right… just you and me Catgirl," Caitlyn said raising her shield to eye level and placing her sword on top of it so that the tip pointed towards the shifter.

"Heh, suit yourself," Trisha said, unfurling her whip. She let her weapon crack loudly, but Caitlyn didn't even blink. The policewoman immediately realized that Trisha now had the element of reach on her side and ran toward her to close the distance. Trisha grinned briefly and cracked her whip. It whizzed toward Caitlyn at breathtaking speed, causing her to lose sight of it. For a brief moment she wondered where Trisha had struck until she felt the weapon between her feet. Stopping too late, Caitlyn tripped over her own legs as the whip wrapped around her ankles. She flew face-first to the ground and let go of her sword. It slid across the forest floor. Caitlyn crawled after it, but her armor slowed her down, draining her of energy. She reached out for the hilt to resume the fight when Trisha's high heeled foot pinned her wrist to the ground. Caitlyn looked up into the catgirl's eyes.

"Too slow, I'm afraid. Your journey is over, little knight." said Trisha, leaning down. Caitlyn tried to free her wrist, but a swift blow from Trisha to the side of her neck instantly incapacitated her.

 

Kim had left the path far behind. She didn't even hear the noise of battle anymore, but she hoped Caitlyn could overpower the two Assassins.

"Chloe?" asked Kim, but she got no response. She didn't know if she really wanted one either, she just hoped the others were wrong about her sister.

"At least I can see well…" muttered Kim, holding the staff tightly in her hands. It gave her light and she thought she felt a soothing warmth from it that calmed her. She heard a rustling behind her and she whirled around, protecting the staff in front of her. But she saw no one. Kim narrowed her eyes suspiciously and took a few steps backward before turning back around.

"Just the wind… if they simulate that too…"

Kim felt something grab her left ankle and she jumped back, startled. A creeper had grabbed her foot and was growing up her leg. Kim breathed a sigh of relief.

"Just the stupid creepers from the cursed forest," she muttered, bending down to dislodge the plant. Chloe had often told her about the plants and how to get rid of them easily. She was about to grab the tip and reel the plant back when her other leg was grabbed by another plant and pulled back uncomfortably.

"Come on, not now."

She set her staff aside and immediately regretted it as two more vines shot out of the ground and wrapped themselves around her hands. They pulled her hands apart as they continued to snake up her arms. Kim's face, which had been annoyed at first, changed to panic as she realized that this was never a normal creeper. Her pulse skyrocketed and she tried to stand up, but the plants had other plans and forced Kim to kneel down. They wrapped around her shins and pressed them together.

"No, not like that! Chloe! Caitlyn! Somebody!" She screamed desperately as the tendrils wrapped around her torso and began to pull and squeeze her arms to her sides.

Maybe if I can get to the staff! Kim thought and stretched out her fingers. But as if the tendrils had read her mind, it wrapped itself over her fingers, rendering them useless.

"Shit!"

She was forced to lie on the ground and more tendrils poked out of it and wrapped around Kim.

I failed. Kim thought and rested her forehead on the cold forest floor. She heard rustling again, but she didn't even look up, thinking it was the wind again.

"Kim?" asked Chloe's voice in surprise, and Kim's head snapped up. Her pout immediately formed a smile.

"Chloe! Please help me out of here, we need to get to Caitlyn fast! She's in danger!" shouted Kim as the tendrils made their way to her head.

"Mmmmmhh, I don't think so," Chloe said with a smile, watching the tendrils wrap themselves, like snakes, around Kim's body.

"What?"

"That's right. I've been working for the Red Witch since the adventure started," Chloe said, shrugging, "And once you're out of the way, I'll have done my job and finally be rid of this stupid chastity belt forever."

Kim looked at Chloe, stunned.

"Chastity belt? Does that mean you betray your friends for sex?"

"Yeeaaah, something like that sis."

"But… Chloe… I thought… we'd stick together forever. We swore we would!" cried Kim accusingly, a lump forming in her throat as she held back tears.

"Calm down, Kimberly. It's just a game and the red witch just won."

"We swore we wommmhpppfff!" Kim tried to repeat, but the tendrils snaked across her mouth and gave her a cleavegag. Tears rolled down Kim's cheeks as she continued to stare at her sister, just before the tendrils snaked across her eyes.

"I'll, um…be off then…" Chloe mumbled, turning away. Kim began to sob behind her and Chloe stopped. She rubbed her eyes and groaned loudly. She walked back to her sister, drew her dagger and cut the vines with four quick strokes. She slashed the plants off Kim and pulled her sister away from the ground and the plants. The younger woman freed her eyes and mouth from the gag and looked at her sister with tears smearing her face.

"Was that really necessary? Damn it, Chloe!" she said, sniffling.

"The red witch has me in the palm of her hand, Kim," Chloe said. Kim stared open-mouthed at her sister.

"Are you kidding me? For sex?"

"Well…"

"Forget it, we have to help Cait," Kim interrupted, heading in the direction she had come from. Chloe exhaled exhaustedly and looked down sadly at her latex-hidden crotch.

"Gonna miss you…" she mumbled, following Kim back down the path.

 

Caitlyn weakly opened her eyes. She heard voices, but her befuddled mind could make no rhyme of them. She tried to rub her blurry eyes with her hands, but they disobeyed her.

"Komppfff oommpff," she muttered in annoyance, knowing now that she was not only bound but gagged.

"Uhh look who's awake Rilli," Trisha said and her grinning face appeared in Caitlyn's view.

"Just in time! I was just about to say thank you!" said Rilliana and a brief electric shock went through Caitlyn as the elf kicked her in the stomach pit, "Honestly, why always the head!"

"Vewi voo wit," Caitlyn moaned through her cleavegag, glaring at the elf with amusement.

"Easy to hit? Oh wait, I'll show you what's easy to hit!" Rilliana exclaimed and took another swing, but Trisha stopped her.

"The red witch wants her, remember."

Rilliana lowered her foot and instead stooped to the ground to grab a leash tied around Caitlyn's neck.

"You're in luck, Knight!" she whispered in Caitlyn's ear, pulling her up by the leash. Caitlyn followed the pull and stood up, swaying. The armor was heavier than before. Caitlyn suspected it was now taking its toll.

"Come on!" shouted Rilliana, tugging on Caitlyn's neck. With her hands tied behind her back, she had no choice but to follow the elf. Trisha took another quick look around, then brought up the rear and went after Caitlyn.

"Hey wait!" a voice called from between the bushes and the three women whirled around. It was Chloe! She had Kim's staff in her hand since the latter couldn't use it. Kims stood next to her, holding her hands behind her back. She looked scared and horrified at her sister's betrayal.

"Oho, the spy? Good job today." Trisha said with a smile and walked up to her to take Kim from her. While Caitlyn screamed insults into her gag. Rilliana silenced her with a painful tug of the leash.

"You kept your part of the deal, I will tell the red witch about your actions and she will pay you handsomely," Trisha said, pulling out a rope to lead Kim away in a similar fashion to Caitlyn.

"Yeeaaah, little change of plans about that," Chloe said, leaping toward Trisha in one leap. Leaving the staff behind her, Kim, whose hands weren't tied at all, grabbed hold of it in a flash and cast the blinding spell again. This time it also hit Caitlyn but she didn't need to see where Rilliana was, after all she had a leash around her neck connected to the elf. At the same moment that Caitlyn, pulled the elf to her and a moment later rammed her shoulder against her, Chloe took advantage of the surprise and yanked Trisha's legs out from under her. She landed heavily on the ground and before her eyes could recover from the spell, Chloe had already grabbed her hands and tied them behind her so that not even her claws could free her.

"I'll tell her you failed," Chloe said, and was about to rush to Caitlyn's aid when she saw that the knight, had buried the elf under her heavy armor. Caitlyn had trouble getting up without her hands, so she grabbed one of Rilliana's daggers and cut her bonds. She then grabbed her sword and stood up, panting.

"Wow, good job, Cait!" laughed Chloe but immediately fell silent when Caitlyn stood beside her with five quick steps and pressed her sword tip against Chloe's throat.

"Don't give me "good job, Cait!" We both know we're only in this mess because of you!" said Caitlyn but Kim intervened.

"Enough already! Chloe will answer for her crimes, but first we need to find the others and disarm them!" she said angrily and Caitlyn and Chloe looked at her in surprise. Reluctant, Caitlyn sheathed her sword and said, "Chloe tie those two up… and do it right this time! I need to think."

Chloe didn't dare to disagree and got to work. She tied the raging Trisha and the again unconscious Rilliana together. The other's heads in their crotches and hands out of reach of any knot that could have freed them.

"Do you think that's enough?" asked Kim, looking down at the two women.

"I don't think so… but I just robbed the creepers of their toys. I think I should apologize." said Chloe, grabbing the assassins and dragging them to where she had found Kim. The vines wrapped around the elf and catgirl, robbing them of their senses. Back on the path, they saw Caitlyn fiddling with her armor.

"What are you doing?" asked Chloe but Caitlyn did not answer. Instead, she loosened the straps holding the armor in place and plate after plate clattered to the ground. The only things she had on now were her metal gloves and boots and the blue latex dress. She bent down to pick up her shield, but she fixed it on her back along with her sword and grabbed Summer's two-handed sword instead.

"I should have done this right away. This armor makes me way too slow." Caitlyn said, swinging the sword back and forth for a test. She turned to Chloe.

"Where did you leave the others?"

"Oh…"

 

"Oh? Are you fucking serious, Chloe?" asked Caitlyn angrily as they fished the unconscious Ava out of the net, "I could really kill you right now, but I think Ava can take care of that when she wakes up."

"I told you, I'm sorry. My life hasn't exactly been one of right choices."

Kim nodded in agreement as Caitlyn shook her head and released Ava from her cocoon. She had a gentle smile on her lips. Kim cast a spell that healed Ava and woke her up. Ava opened her eyes and glanced up at the smiling faces of her friends.

"You saved me…" she murmured in relief before seeing Chloe,

"Chloe!"

With a leap, Ava jumped up and reached out her hands to strangle Chloe, but quickly held Caitlyn and wrapped her arms around Ava's body.

"Chloe you fucking traitor! When I get my hands on you, I swear… Caitlyn get the fuck off me!"

"Ava calm down!" Caitlyn urged her.

"Calm down? I could burst with anger!"

"You're already bursting," Chloe threw at her, and all three women stared at her for a moment. In the next, Ava started screaming like a fury and Kim rushed to Caitlyn's aid to keep Ava from breaking free.

 

Ten minutes later, Ava, Caitlyn and Kim lay exhausted on the floor, breathing heavily.

"Ava I'm really sorry for what I did to you. Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" asked Chloe guiltily. She knelt in front of the three of them and looked down at the cold stone floor. Ava gave her an evil glare, puffed out a quick breath, and said, "You owe me for this."

Chloe nodded quickly and Ava's features relaxed before she asked, "What about Tea?"

 

Tea's whole body tingled from the electricity coursing through her body. The fall had caused her to lose most of her life. It made it difficult for her to walk and she leaned heavily on her staff. She would have loved to shove her wand up Chloe's butt and call Fireball, but all in due time. First she had to find her way out of this cave. Tea tripped over a bump in the floor and cursed.

"If only it weren't so fucking dark in here," Tea muttered, looking up at the tip of her staff, "Maybe… LIGHT!"

Instantly, the tip of her staff lit up a cold blue, illuminating the hallway in front of her. The walls looked as if they were of natural origin, though Tea knew that could not be.

"Well after all… HEALING?" she called out, but nothing happened, "would have been too good to be true."

Tea limped on until she noticed a red glow in front of her. It pulsed like a heartbeat and lit up the hallway more and more as she got closer. Tea rounded the corner and stopped, rooted to the spot, as the path disappeared and she arrived at a cliff. Below her was a huge lava lake with an island in the middle. On it was a crystal heart, which gave off a pulsating glow. In front of it was a throne, but it was unoccupied.

"Hearts mean healing, don't they?" murmured Tea, looking down at the lava lake and then at her staff. She pointed it downward and hesitantly called out, "ICE… RAY?"

Immediately, a beam shot from the tip of her staff and cooled the lava, creating a rocky path that she could take all the way to the island.

"How the hell do they do that?" asked Tea, but shook her head and carefully began the descent. The electric shocks didn't make it easy for her and more than once she almost lost her footing, but ultimately she made it safely to the bottom and limped to the center of the island. With each step she took, it felt as if the heartbeat of the crystal was pushing her back a little. Tea was undeterred, however, and walked past the throne closer and closer to the heart until she was only a few steps away.

"Maybe there's more to it than just healing?" pondered Tea. She could feel the energy emanating from it, making the air tremble. She reached out for it, but paused when she heard footsteps of high heels behind her. Tea turned to see Celine, in a red latex witch's robe, descending a long and wide staircase.

"How did that little sorceress find her way into my most unholy chambers?" asked Celine.

"Um, your chambers?" asked Tea, gripping her staff tighter.

"Yes, of course. You have your staff and I have my witch heart. It amplifies my powers and none of your little bunch can stop me as long as it beats."

Tea grinned.

"Well, in that case."

She pointed her staff at the heart and yelled, "FIREBALL!"

Immediately, flames shot out of her staff and enveloped the heart in an inferno.

"Hahahaha! I didn't expect you to be stupid enough to tell me about your weakness, red witch."

Tea was about to turn to Celine, grinning broadly, but her face froze as the flames died out and the heart continued to pulse undamaged.

"Do you really think your puny spell can even remotely damage my heart? Ridiculous. Let me show you what true magic is!"

Celine raised her hand and a black ball appeared above her. She let her hand shoot downward and the ball hurtled toward Tea. Weakened by the electric shocks, Tea failed to dodge and was hit on her legs. The ball burst, spattering her latex robe and the surrounding floor with sticky goo. Desperately Tea pulled at her legs, but the slime had pinned her to the floor. She looked up and saw Celine raise her hand again. A small ball of fire rose in her palm, but grew increasingly larger and seemed to draw heat from the lava.

"Say goodbye, little sorceress. Your journey ends here!" screamed Celine, throwing the ball at the bound mage.

Well, that was that. Tea thought, and was about to face the fireball boldly when she had a flash of insight. She pointed her staff in the direction of the projectile and yelled, "SHIELD!"

A barrier formed around her and not a moment too soon, for in the next the fireball crashed into her shield, pulverizing it instantly. But it was deflected by the barrier and shot toward the heart. The ball hit the crystal and it exploded into a thousand pieces. Tea was electrocuted by the force and immediately fainted and was sent hurtling forward by the explosion. Celine quickly caught her with her magic before she could really hurt herself and smiled appreciatively.

"Not bad Tea. Maybe you guys have a chance now after all."

 

"Come on guys, you really don't need to do this right now!" complained Chloe to her friends, who silently pulled her along behind them. After Caitlyn had heard what Chloe had done to Tea, she had gotten fed up and tied her hands. She was now dragging Chloe behind her, looking for the right way to free Princess Phaelynia.

"What if we get ambushed?" asked Chloe but continued to fall on deaf ears. Even Kim gave her an annoyed look, wishing she had taken the gags from Rilliana and Trisha. Looking forward again, she drew her eyebrows together and pointed forward.

"What the… what is that?" she asked.

Ava's mouth dropped open.

"HOW!!! How can it be that a fortress like that can be built underground?" asked Ava, gesturing toward the castle that loomed before them. The battlements of the tall towers rose into the air, giving them the impression that they were not underground at all. Red banners and cages hung from its ramparts, which seemed to be just waiting to imprison the heroines. The gate was wide open and immediately the same thought popped into all of their heads.

This is a trap.

"Come on Cait. You guys need all the help you can get. I could check out the situation!" pleaded Chloe and Caitlyn looked at her briefly before turning to Ava.

"Ava, look around and then come back. I don't trust this whole thing."

"I agree," Ava said, nodding and disappearing between the trees to get closer to the castle.

"Cait, I beg you!" pleaded Chloe, clasping her bound hands together to show she really meant it.

"Chloe, this is the end game, I'm sorry to say, but for all I know, this could still be a plan of yours to double-cross us." explained Caitlin, throwing the rope over a branch to hang Chloe's hands on it. She pulled on it so Chloe had to stand on tiptoe to reduce the pull on her wrists and tied it tight.

"Wow, now that's just downright mean," Chloe commented on her bondage, "Now think about it Cait, if I still wanted to go down that road, would I have saved Kim and you? Or shown you where Ava and Tea…"

"You did the Lion King with Tea!"

" Yeah, but…"

"Rilliana and Trisha said they intend to take us to the Red Witch. What if you just take us to her now? Your freedom plus a big reward?" asked Caitlyn, patting Chloe's crotch. The blonde blushed.

"Kim, please, we're sisters."

"Sure, but Cait's the leader," Kim said, shrugging her shoulders. The bushes rustled and Ava appeared beside them.

"What did you see?" asked Caitlyn.

"There's a single person standing in the courtyard, blocking access deeper into the castle. I couldn't see how well armed she was, though, unfortunately."

"Probably a guard… we're on the right track." Caitlyn reflected.

"What did the person look like?" asked Chloe, fearing the worst after the process of elimination.

"The guard is black-haired woman, with a spot of blonde," Ava said, pointing to her own hair to show the blonde spot.

"Cait, this is Ifry! You have to untie me, you don't know how powerful she is," Chloe said in a panic.

"But you do?"

"Yes, she's…" Chloe fell silent as she bit her tongue to keep from revealing Ifry's secret.

"Yeah?" asked Caitlyn, raising an eyebrow.

"Just be careful…" Chloe mumbled, hanging her head.

"Mmm, thanks," Caitlyn said, nodding to Chloe and turning to the castle, "Ava can you climb the walls? They should give you an advantage. Kim, stay in the shadows of the gate and heal me should I need it. I hope we can take… Ifry? Out before she causes us problems."

The women nodded in agreement and headed for the wall. They left Chloe hanging from the tree alone, doomed to only watch.

 

Caitlyn stepped into the castle square after Ava positioned herself on the ramparts and Kim waited behind her in the shadows. A woman leaned casually against a door, blocking the way deeper into the castle. She matched Ava's description. Caitlyn saw a horn sprouting from her head and a curl growing upward from her blonde hair.

"Is that all? Are you the only one left of your little band of heroes?" asked Ifry in a thunderous voice. The three women flinched at her sound, but Caitlyn quickly regained her composure and drew Summer's sword.

"That's right! Let me through and you won't get hurt!" Caitlyn shouted back at her, but her voice was nowhere near as impressive as Ifry's.

"Haha, good one, human," Ifry almost spat out the last word, "We both know that my mistress will not allow me to let you through. Besides, you don't want to leave your comrade behind, do you?"

Caitlyn forced herself not to cast a nervous glance at Ava and Kim for fear that Ifry was bluffing and just trying to figure out the positions of her allies. But Ifry was not bluffing. She pulled out a metal disc from behind the door, decorated with a golden-brown ornament. Ifry donned the metal disk like a shield and smiled toward Caitlyn. The knight's mouth dropped open when she saw Summer glued to the shield and trapped under a layer of brown, as if she had been frozen.

"What did you do to Summer?" asked Caitlyn angrily, gripping her sword tighter.

"What do you think? She's now a permanent part of my equipment. Doesn't she look beautiful?" asked Ifry provocatively, running her right hand over Summer's breasts.

"you will pay for that, fiend!" shouted Caitlyn, charging at Ifry. The demoness drew her own longsword and the two blades sprayed sparks as they collided.

"AVA, now!" shouted Caitlyn as Ifry and she were thrown backwards. An arrow flew unerringly toward the demoness and she blocked it at the last moment with the Summershield. It hit Summer's stomach and Caitlyn heard the pink-haired woman groan.

"She's still alive!"

"That's right. Every blow I block with her hits her and not me. Are you sure you want to cause your friend so much pain?" asked Ifry, smiling sadistically as she saw desperation in Caitlyn's eyes.

"I'm very sure of it!" shouted Ava from the wall, firing another arrow at Ifry. The demoness's eyes widened as she blocked another arrow and Summer groaned again.

"What kind of heroes are you?" she asked Ava, watching out of the corner of her eye as Caitlyn took a swing over her head and brought the blade down. She managed to dodge at the last moment and Caitlyn's sword dug into the ground.

"Shit!" Caitlyn shouted and pulled at it but to no avail. Ifry grinned broadly and took a swing. Caitlyn suddenly kicked at her sword with her metal boot, it flew out of the ground and parried Ifry's blow. Caitlyn made a spin to use the momentum and struck with all her might. Ifry had just time to raise her shield and was, but was overwhelmed by Caitlyn's force. Summer screamed in her prison, but she flew out of Ifry's hand in a high arc and rolled toward the gate. Kim hastily stepped out of the shadows and caught her before she set about releasing Summer from the shield.

"Give it up! Your tricks aren't working anymore!" said Caitlyn, holding her sword toward Ifry.

"Heh, tricks? I've got another one!" Ifry shouted, tossing her sword aside. A pillar of black light and fire spread around the demoness and dark waves threw Caitlyn back, causing her to slide next to Kim.

"Time for phase two," Caitlyn muttered, placing Summer's sword next to Kim, who was peeling the brown layer from Summer's face.

"Are you okay, Summer?" asked Caitlyn with concern.

"Never better!" replied Summer, who was getting more and more of her body back until she ultimately grabbed her sword and Kim healed her. Caitlyn, meanwhile, pulled her own sword and shield from her back.

"Let's finish this!" she shouted.

"Ohhh it will end…but not the way you want!" shouted Ifry's thunderous voice, and the pillar of flame spread throughout the courtyard as wings sprouted from her back. She knelt down and pulled a blade out of the ground with her clawed hands. Bigger than Summer's sword and ridiculously wide. The women would have laughed under normal circumstances, but the size and weight of the sword didn't seem to bother the demon. Ifry glanced briefly at the edge of the blade before looking to Caitlyn, Kim, and the just-rising Summer.

"Kim get back!" Caitlyn managed to say just as Ifry came hurtling towards her with unnatural speed, lashing out with her sword. Caitlyn raised her shield to block the blow, but she was overcome by the force and lost her grip on the ground. She crashed into Summer and both women were thrown back and rolled across the yard.

"Shit! What was that?" asked Summer, scrambling to her feet.

Caitlyn stood up. Her arm was shaking from the electricity flowing through it and her life bar had dropped by half.

"Another blow like that and I'm toast," Caitlyn said, tightening a strap on her shield.

"Probably shouldn't have lost your armor," Summer noted, but Caitlyn shook her head.

"No, this is better."

Ifry ran at her again, but this time Caitlyn was prepared. She ran towards her and dropped to the ground at the last moment, slithering under Ifry's blade and striking at the demoness in the process. Ifry looked surprised when she was hit by Caitlyn's blade and looked after her. The next moment she whirled around as she remembered that there was another woman standing there with her sword raised. Summer slashed at Ifry with her two-handed sword and the demoness was overwhelmed by the blow. She fell heavily on the ground and remained lying. The women erupted in cheers and celebration until Ifry opened her eyes and flames seemed to spurt from them. She stood up, leaning heavily on her blade.

"Oh come on, stay down!" grumbled Summer, instantly turning pale as Ifry looked up at her.

 

Chloe heard the noise of battle from afar and wished nothing more than to be there.

"Damn, how could I have been so stupid," she muttered sulkily, looking up as the noise died down and cheers could be heard.

"Well, at least they made it without me."

A smile played around her lips until a second later a shattering bang shook the ground and the courtyard exploded. Chloe could only see black flames flying over the walls and scattering in front of and around the castle.

"Oh my… Ifry, what the hell?" asked Chloe, startled, as all at once there was a terrible silence. Something had gone very wrong, Chloe knew, and looked up at her useless hands. There had to be something she could do. She looked to the knot Caitlyn had used to tie her to the tree. It served its purpose, but Chloe could see a weak spot or two. She opened one of her boots, kicking it away from her so that her foot was free of it. Next, she ignored the screaming of her wrists and stood on one leg while her free foot moved to the knot and began pulling on the loop. It took a bit and she had to keep starting over as she ran out of strength, but eventually the knot came loose. Chloe fell to the floor, exhausted, but immediately scrambled to her feet.

"If I can manage this, I'll teach you how to tie knots properly," Chloe muttered, pulling her boot back on. She looked up at the castle and drew her daggers.

"At least Caitlyn let me have those."

Chloe pulled her hood over her head and her mask over her mouth.

"Time for my Redemption Arc."

 

"Chloe!" cried Kim, startled from her sleep. The ground beneath her shook menacingly as she moved. She was sitting in a cage, like one of the ones she had seen outside at the castle. She grabbed the bars with her hands and pulled herself up by them. She was clearly inside the castle, probably in the dungeon. Her cage hung a good four steps off the ground, dangling back and forth on a chain. Kim saw many other cages and instruments of torture below her and hoped they were just for show. Two more cages dangled next to her. Caitlyn was in one and Summer was in the other. Neither appeared to be conscious yet.

"Shh, Cait, Summer! Wake up!" Whispered Kim, but the two older women did not move.

Understandable, they had also been closest to the explosion. Kim thought, and looked down at the dungeon door as it opened. Ifry came in, with Ava in her arms, and placed her carefully, almost tenderly, in one of the cages before locking it with a key and hanging it next to the front door. Ifry was about to pull a chain and carry Ava's cage to the ceiling when she saw Kim watching her intently. The demoness showed a time-out symbol with her hands and Kim nodded.

"Are you alright there? I guess I overdid it a bit just now." said Ifry guiltily, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Yeah, I'm fine! But damn, it's all so real! How do you guys do it?" asked Kim.

" Weeeeell, Celine is one of the leading minds in special effects, but doesn't usually brag about it like that, haha," Kim nodded in agreement, "I hope you guys are still having fun now that you've lost and the Red Witch has won."

"I'm having fun and the others will see it the same way, don't worry, but we haven't lost yet!" Kim replied.

"Oh? How so, I caught all of you, didn't I?"

"Not all of us," Kim said with a grin, clearing her throat, "You fiend! When we get out of here, we'll free the princess and seal the red witch for all eternity!"

"Hoho, big words, priestess. I think such heroism must be rewarded," Ifry said pulling Ava's cage up to bring Kim's down following. The young blonde was wide-eyed and stumbled away from the cage door when Ifry opened it. The demoness grabbed her arm and pulled her to her before snapping a pair of medieval handcuffs around her wrists.

"You and I are going to have some fun now," Ifry said, pulling Kim into her arms, making the blonde blush. Ifry led Kim into an adjoining room and let the door slam shut behind her. Illuminated by torchlight, a rack stood in the center of the room. Instantly, the color drained from Kim's face and she went pale.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, you've got to be kidding me!" said Kim in panic, resisting the iron grip of the demoness who effortlessly dragged her to the rack.

"Don't worry, I won't make it too tight either," laughed Ifry with a sadistic undertone. The demoness threw Kim onto the bench and strapped her ankles into two loops of rope. Kim sat up and pulled on her legs, but she was trapped. Ifry walked around her once and gently but steadily pushed Kim backward, grabbing her hands to tie them above her to the apparatus. Kim whimpered softly as she was unable to move. Ifry gently stroked her head.

"Don't worry, it's all part of the game," Ifry whispered in Kim's ear.

"It is, but…" she got no further as Ifry pressed a red ball gag into her mouth and locked it.

"Not that you'll bite your tongue," she said with a wink and turned the wheel to tighten Kim's bonds. It clicked steadily and with each click Kim became more and more tense on the rack. At first it was not uncomfortable for Kim, but she knew if the demoness continued, she could suffer serious pain. But before that could happen, Ifry stopped and stood next to Kim.

"Ready for your torture?" she asked Kim.

"nompf?"

"Haha, was more of a rhetorical question," Ifry said, taking off Kim's boots, which she tossed carelessly aside.

"Wah haf fu foo?" asked Kim nervously, straining to see what Ifry was up to.

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Ifry, starting to stroke the soles of Kim's feet.

"Ipfi hi… ohm feim… IPFI! PFEi HAHAHA! IPFI!" cried Kim laughing, while the demoness gave more and more attention to Kim's soles, sliding her fingers over them. She tickled Kim, making the young blonde gasp, but the demoness didn't stop. Tears of laughter flowed from the corners of Kim's eyes and flew in all directions as she desperately shook her head and tried to escape Ifry's fingers. Thanks to the restraints, however, an impossible feat.

Kim screamed like a banshee and so Ifry did not hear someone approaching behind her. Something whizzed down on Ifry's head and a loud KLONG resounded through the room. Ifry thought for a moment, Seriously Chloe, a frying pan? Slumped to the floor and pretended to pass out while Chloe poured out a circle of salt around the demoness. Chloe rushed to her sister and released the gag from her mouth.

"Chloe… ha ha, you saved us! I knew it," Kim panted, exhaustedly, letting her head hit the rack heavily.

"Always for you sis," Chloe said, releasing Kim from the rack before carefully lifting the priestess off of it. She carried her into the dungeon room, where Caitlyn, Ava and Summer stood in their cages, looking fearfully toward Chloe.

"What did she do to Kim?" asked Caitlyn.

"They tortured Kim, but she'll be fine soon and I took out the demoness," said Chloe, sitting Kim down on a stool.

"Our brave Kim," Summer exclaimed and Kim raised her thumb.

"So um can you get us down here?" asked Ava and Chloe started to smirk.

"Depends, are you tying me up again?"

Ava exchanged a look with Caitlyn.

"No…"

"Great… how much cash do you have on you?"

"Chloe," Ava, Cait and Kim exclaimed as if from the same mouth.

"It's okay," Chloe said, undoing the chains to free her friends from their cages.

"Say… where's Tea, anyway?" asked Summer suddenly, and Chloe winced in shock, almost letting go of the cage chain. She wasn't eager for what followed.

 

Tea had woken up some time ago. She was still in the middle of the lava lake where she had destroyed the witch's heart. But the red witch had replaced it with the princess. Phaelynia was sitting in a glass crystal, tapping against its glass from time to time. Tea, however, could do nothing but watch her wistfully, as she herself was in a predicament. The red witch had placed heavy chains around her wrists and ankles, forcing her to crouch at the foot of her throne. The witch herself had been sitting on it since Tea woke up, making jokes here and there about Tea's wizardry. Mind you, with occasional interruptions, during which Celine, offered Tea and Phaelynia something to drink and cookies while they waited for the rest of the heroes.

"They could come around eventually," Celine muttered, yawning loudly.

"All part of the tactic, they wear you down and then club you over the head," Tea explained and Celine laughed out loud.

"I'm not sure now if you meant that in game or as a joke," Celine laughed and threw a smile at Phaelyn who was chewing contentedly on a cookie.

"Can we do this more often, Celine? The cookies taste excellent!" asked Phaelyn, taking another bite to make her point. Celine and Tea giggled, but all three fell silent as the heavy door opened, leading to the lava lake.

"Aaaand action," Celine whispered and Phaelyn immediately let a distressed expression appear on her face, while Tea did her best to pretend she was fighting the chains. Celine was definitely convinced by the young woman's acting.

"WITCH! YOUR REIGN IS OVER! WE HAVE CONQUERED YOUR SERVANTS AND YOU ARE ALONE!" shouted Caitlyn down the stairs as she caught sight of Celine, the red witch.

"Hahahahaha, you fools! Before the sun rises, you will all kneel before my glory and worship my feet…" Celine shouted back, but was interrupted when an arrow flew a hair's breadth past her face and lodged in her throne. She looked up at Ava, who clicked her tongue in disappointment and aimed another arrow.

"Suit yourself," Celine gasped, raising both hands toward the stairs, making a grabbing motion and jerkily pulling both hands back toward her body. The steps collapsed and the heroines slid down it toward the island. Ava's surprise caused her to shoot another arrow, which sailed in a high arc over Celine and plopped into the lava lake behind her, where it instantly evaporated into ash.

"You fools! As long as I have the princess in my power, you cannot defeat me!" shouted Celine, and suddenly lightning flashed through the glass dome and struck Phaelyn. From the outside it looked like she was in pain, but in reality Phaelyn laughed out as the lightning tickled her.

"Summer, Ava, Kim, like we discussed!" yelled Caitlyn, running towards Celine with Summer. Kim immediately cast her blinding spell and Celine had to shield her eyes, but quickly regained her composure.

"Ha, your sword will do you no good, Knight!" shouted Celine, raising her hand to throw a fireball at Caitlyn. Immediately, an arrow from Ava shot out from behind Caitlyn and hit Celine's wrist. She flinched in shock and interrupted the spell. Celine was about to cast a new one when she became aware of a presence beside her. Chloe had crept up beside her under the cover of the flash of light and was running up the steps of the throne with her daggers drawn. Celine jumped aside at the last moment before the blades could catch her. Meanwhile, Caitlyn ran after her, not wanting to give her time to cast a spell. Summer came to a skidding halt beside Tea and slashed with her sword. The chains instantly shattered and Summer handed her staff to her friend. They had found it in Ifry's dungeon while searching for the way to Celine.

"Let's go!" shouted Tea, pointing her staff at Celine, who was dodging blow after blow from Caitlyn and Chloe and looking visibly stressed. "FIREBALL!"

Chloe and Caitlyn jumped aside as if on cue as the fireball shot toward them, engulfing Celine in flames.

"As soon as the flames are gone, start phase two! Don't let her do magic!" yelled Caitlyn.

The flames did not disappear, however. Instead, they changed color and became a darker red. In the next instant, the fireball exploded, throwing Chloe and Caitlyn back. Celine stood in the midst of the inferno and threw a lightning bolt at Ava, who was about to shoot another arrow at her. The projectile was split down the middle by magic and hit Ava's chest when she failed to dodge in time. She collapsed and did not move. Kim rushed to her and cast a healing spell, but it had no effect.

"Ava, no!" screamed Kim and took Ava in her arms. She saw that the lightning had caused Ava's life points to drop to zero.

"Get yourself together, Kim! We need your help here!" shouted Caitlyn, dodging another lightning bolt at the last moment. Kim carefully put Ava's head down and raised her staff to heal Caitlyn and her sister.

"In the end, the dead are mourned," she murmured, "HEAL!"

Tea, meanwhile, pointed to the glass box.

"Summer, we have to get Phaelynia out of there. The witch gets her power from her!"

Summer nodded to her and ran toward the box with her sword raised. Inside, the princess lay on the ground, shrieking as lightning ran across her skin. Summer lunged and struck, but her sword transferred one of the lightning bolts and threw Summer back against Tea with force and they were both knocked out by it.

"Shit, Chloe you go from behind!" shouted Caitlyn as her plans went up in smoke.

"What a ridiculous idea!" said Celine, casting a spell on the floor. Too late, Caitlyn and Chloe realized that the stone beneath their feet had turned to quicksand, and they sank into the sand up to their waists in no time.

"Magic is so unfair!" exclaimed Chloe, and Celine grinned.

"I never said this was going to be a fair game."

She threw a bolt at Chloe, who instantly slumped, and turned to Caitlyn.

"Ready to go on becoming my slave forever, Knight?" asked Celine.

"Never! I'd rather die!" retorted Caitlyn. Celine bent down to Caitlyn.

"I'm going to enjoy torturing you."

The witch raised her hand to defeat Caitlyn, but she suddenly got a rock thrown at her head. Surprised, she turned to Kim, who was already holding the next one in her hand and taking aim.

"Are you serious, priestess? All those spells in your arsenal and you decide to throw rocks at me?"

"Well, I just needed to distract you," Kim said with a smile, pointing at Caitlyn. The knight struck in an ill-advised moment, catching Celine on her hip. The witch staggered to the side, face contorted with rage, and threw a lightning bolt at the woman stuck in the ground in revenge. Protectively, Caitlyn raised her blade and to both of their surprise, the sword began to glow blue as energy was stored within it. Astonished Kim and Caitlyn stared at the weapon and even Celine lost face not knowing what was going on.

"Um Cait, maybe we should take a break for a minute…" Celine was about to say when Caitlyn lashed out and threw the sword at her. All at once sweat stood on Celine's forehead and she jumped aside at the last moment. The sword flew past her into the glass box, causing it to explode. Shards flew in all directions and trickled down on the women. Shocked, Celine turned to Caitlyn, who had a victorious smile on her lips and passed out from exhaustion the next moment.

"Oh damn," Celine muttered, walking over to her. She checked to make sure Caitlyn was okay and didn't notice Kim sneaking up behind her. It wasn't until she felt the tip of her staff in her back that she froze and raised her hands.

"I guess you got me there, priestess," Celine said, breathing a sigh of relief that nothing further had happened to Caitlyn.

"That's right, and you're going to pay for your misdeeds," Kim said, "BANNING!"

All at once a hole opened up under Celine and hands came out of it, reaching for her and her red dress. They pulled her down into the underworld, whereupon the hole above her snapped shut and the red witch disappeared. Kim was just able to prevent herself from collapsing and leaned on her staff. They had done it.

"All that's missing now is the princess," Kim muttered, limping over to the crater where the glass box had stood a moment ago. Phaelynia lay in its center, her white dress stained with ash and dust, her eyes spinning. To have been so close to the explosion had probably been too much even for the princess. Kim tried to cast a healing spell on her, but nothing happened.

"I guess the game is over," she muttered, dragging herself to the throne to take a seat on it and take a nap.

 

"The girls really are amazing," Celine murmured after she put the women to bed and joined Phaelyn in the main house.

"I didn't doubt for a second that they would free me," Phaelyn said proudly, pointing her thumbs at herself.

"Haha, I bet you did," laughed Celine, "Tell me, do you know where they left the others?"

Phaelyn just shrugged and told the spiders that they had done a good job and wished them a good night.

"Well, they'll turn up eventually," Celine said, yawning loudly.

"Say, what about that Chloe girl now? Does she have to keep wearing the chastity belt now?" asked Phaelyn.

"No, no. She had made the deal with the red witch, now that she's defeated, she deserves her freedom too," muttered Celine and dropped into her bed. Phaelyn stood in the doorway not quite knowing where to go until Celine said, "Well c'mon over here."

"Yayyy!" cried Phaelyn, jumping onto Celine's bed.