Shadows of Elysium, Chapter 3
The intrepid crew must escape the tunnels. The monsters are all gone, but now they face the maze with an ever hornier giant of a dog, and four squealing girls leaving slick trails behind them. Can they escape the maze with their ethics in tact, or is someone going knot deep in the deep dark?
Nobody voted for A
Two people voted for B
One person said to test small doses on a student, then to test on Judas if it cured it
One person said to test it on everybody all at once
Compromise: Testing it on the students to see if it works. If it does, then will use on Judas.
Also, I failed to remember to mention the small clear vial of fluid that Rolf found.
Opinions were mixed, but Rolf made the compromise. He and Merkha dragged the students next to each other so they could see the effects of the black liquid. They poured a little on each one, hoping it was a contact potion.
They waited and watched while the women wriggled and whined. They waited... and waited...
"I don't think it's doing anything," Merkha said.
"I think the liquid is changing color," said Murray, squinting. "It looks more brown than it did in the bottle."
"Yes, but I think that's just the potion going bad," said Merkha. "Don't you remember the rules of alchemy I taught you? Some potions denature when exposed to-"
"Now it's turning red," Rolf said. "It's getting kinda bright."
Merkha rolled his eyes. "Further denaturing, that's probably all it is," he said.
He looked at the liquid and watched. It shifted from a deep red to a moderate purple. A few seconds later, it shifted to a bright blue. The students were finally aware of the liquid on their fur, and the lion and the horse were shaking their heads frantically. The bear and the squirrel looked at them like they were watching a ship crash.
The potion shifted from a bright blue to a fiery white. Their bodies began glowing. At first, it was dim, but in a moment they were too bright to look at. Cheki and the dogs covered their eyes as blinding white light filled the room. Finally, the light disappeared. When they could see again, they looked at the students.
All four were still there, but they were changed. The squirrel and the bear had enormous breasts, each as large as a water melon. Their hips were wider, too, perfect for bearing children over and over. The horse and the lioness were also changed- before, they had small breasts and were taller. Now, they were as short as the bear and the squirrel, and their breasts were as large as cantaloupes. Their hips weren't narrow like they were before- overall, they were much more pleasing to the eye.
The squirrel and bear were distracted with their extra large- and extra sensitive- changes. The horse and lioness, however, started crying through clenched teeth. Through a supreme force of will, the lioness stopped masturbating for a moment and looked at herself. Then her hand moved back to her muff, and she fell back into her sexual stupor.
Cheki puzzled on this. The potion existed to make people more feminine? How did that even work?
"Wait a moment," Rolf said. "What kinds of students were we looking for?"
"A male lion and horse, and a female bear and squirrel," Murray answered.
They looked at the women in front of them, and understanding dawned on them. The potion turned the men into women, and ch
"Who the fuck- Why is this a thing?!" Cheki demanded. Nobody answered her.
"Come on," Rolf said. "We can get them help once we get them out. Cheki, secure that vase of black stuff. Murray and Merkha, you two get the squirrel and the bear. Judas will get the lioness, and I'll get the mare. I don't want to spend another minute in here."
Cheki didn't protest- she was the leader, but she'd let Rolf give the orders if it got them out of there faster. In no time, they left the ancient dungeon and were back in the labyrinth.
((Are the markings they used enough to help them navigate the multidimensional maze? 50% for typical rolls, but the maze folds and bends depending on where you step. 30% chance of success. Cheki is very smart, though, and with the chalk marks they used to help them navigate, that brings the odds back up to 50%. Finally, can Judas maintain control? The poison has been in his blood for a little while now, bringing him down to 40%. Having all the horny women around is making it worse- 30%.
The walk was long, and more than once they took a wrong turn. The squirrel pulled down Murray's pants twice. The first time, Cheki barely saw- but after that, she couldn't help but continually glancing over, seeing if she would do it again. When she did, Cheki turned a beet red- but she didn't look away. Fortunately for her, everyone else was too distracted to notice.
With all the distractions, everyone was worried they would get lost. Chalk mark after chalk mark, though, they found their way back from where they came. Several times, Judas dragged the lioness down the wrong tunnel. He kept fading in and out, and wasn't always aware of everything around him. After thirty minutes of wandering in the dark, they came to the long path around the maze. Cheki lead the way, ready to be out of the mind-hurting tunnels.
Every so often, she looked behind her and checked on Judas. His eyes stared straight ahead, neither looking at her nor the wall behind her. He was sweating, eyes and other parts bulging. Every time the lioness he was carrying made a particularly lewd noise, he stopped walking for a second, as though he forgot what he was doing.
"Judas, are you okay?" she asked.
His eyes focused on her, still wide and exhausted. He looked her body up and down, lingering too long on her breasts and crotch. Then his eyes drifted back up to hers.
"I'm good," he said. "Let's keep moving."
She nodded, concerned, but turned around and kept walking. Now, instead of gazing into the void, his eyes locked onto her butt. Instead of zoning out and walking into a wall, his body followed hers, his long strides shortening to match hers.
At long last, they got to the exit of the tunnel. Cheki scouted ahead, trying to see if the security team was still going after them. She crept along the shadows, thankful she wore her darker clothing for the mission. She'd have to remember to do that in the future.
"...and I'm telling you, it's been hours! There's no way they're still alive in there!"
"And if they aren't, whose fault is that?" said another guard. "It's ours for not keeping them out! First the college kids, and now some more people- it won't be long before management realizes something weird is going on in there."
"They might still be alive, but who cares? Management didn't find out about the students- why would they learn about the others?" said the third.
She remembered that one- that was the tarantula who tried to stop them before.
"Anyways, who cares?" he continued, "It's not like we're supposed to keep people out to protect anything inside. It's for their own safety. If they wanna be stupid and go in, I say we let them."
"But what if they come out, and our bosses learn that we didn't?!" said the smaller guard.
"If management has a problem with it, they can go sit on a spinneret," he said. "I say we just act like the whole thing didn't happen."
Cheki scooted away from them, going back into the tunnel, when she felt someone behind her. She turned around and looked up, and Judas looked down at her.
"Judas, go back to the others!" she whispered.
He kept walking, dragging the lioness behind him. The other three were close behind, trying to stop him- but every time they put a hand on him, he turned back and snarled at them.
The guards all turned and watched as the hulking dog lumbered out of the cave entrance. Any of the three could have told him to halt, or they could have questioned him as he walked. The look on his face told them neither were pleasant options. Just behind him, his four compatriots followed. The tarantula considered taking the vase of black fluid from Cheki, but a quick glance at her friends told him it was a bad idea. The nine moved by, and the guards did nothing.
"Well?" Said the smaller one, "What now?"
The tarantula sat down in his chair and leaned back, kicking his legs out.
"Now, the problem took care of itself," he said. "Nobody's in there, no bodies for a recovery team."
When they were out of earshot, they considered their options.
"We need to get these people medical care, quickly," Cheki said. "Should we bring them to the college medical facility?"
"The college medical staff probably isn't equipped to handle this," Merkha said. "I think we should turn them over to the college alchemical research department."
"Wait," said Murray, squinting, "is this the same college whose research department researched the effectiveness of hypnosis by seeing how many women they could get to have sex with them? I don't think they're the best choice for getting the students back the way they were."
"I was mostly talking about for the money, but I think the medical staff has zero chance of figuring it out. If we give the black fluid to the research department with the students, they should be able to figure out how to revert them. It's a shame no antidote was in there," he said.
Rolf cleared his throat.
"Actually," he said, "I may have found one- though I'm not sure. It wasn't labeled."
He pulled out the small phial of clear fluid and showed it to the others.
"It was by the master bed, in the nightstand. It may be a counter to the black fluid," he said. "I know that if I made a fluid that could turn me into a woman if I got some on me, I would want something that could turn me into a man again."
"There's so little of it, though," Merkha said, scratching his chin. "What do we do if it's not enough? We don't know how to make any more of it. Perhaps we should sell this to the research department, too."
"Maybe," said Murray. "But they don't need much to study. Besides, there's at least three tablespoons in there- didn't your notes say that potions needed a universal mana concentration per tablespoon to have any effect? That means there's three doses. We can give one to the lion and horse, and sell the last to the research department. Then if it doesn't work, we'll know they need to research something else."
Cheki considered what they were saying. On one hand, the college students did this to themselves by going into restricted tunnels. Much of the trouble they went through- including Judas being poisoned- was their fault. She felt justified in getting every bit of money they could out of their skins. On the other hand, she wasn't heartless. It had to be traumatizing changing bodies against one's will. She remembered the story about the worker who came back insane- maybe that's what happened to them? If the research department was as lacking in ethics as Murray said they were, that might happen to the formerly male students.
After mulling it over, she knew what she wanted to do.
"Alright gentlemen, here's how it's going down:"
A: Turn students and liquids over to research department
B: Turn students over to medical staff, fluids over to research department
C: Use clear phial on lioness and mare, then either do A or B
((Maze roll: 4%. Judas roll: 9%. Used 2 different d100s, so should be fair.))