(Alternative ending to this story: search [ALT1] to find the branch point)

Before Layla could act, however, Emma was quicker: “Do you really think I don’t know how well you can restore yourself after all these years?” she said, squishing Layla’s tiny body between her hands with a loud SPLAT! before she could do anything.

Emma pressed her hands together firmly for a few more seconds, just to be sure, then began rolling her friend’s body into a ball: by this point, Layla’s body had taken on a clay-like consistency. In no time, Layla had been again reduced to a small marble-sized sphere, made of a messy jumble of body parts.

“That was close” Emma sighed “Even though you’ll eventually restore yourself, the fun can continue for a while!” she added, pinching the tiny sphere that was Layla between her thumb and forefinger.

“Once you recover, though, you’ll definitely manage to return to normal… it’s time to bring out an old trick we used back in the day” Emma decided with a mischievous expression, determined to take full advantage of Layla’s vulnerability.

Returning to the living room, Isabella was still playing with her marbles, among which were the tiny, spherical bodies of Carla and Sofia “Can I take these marbles too, Isabella?” Emma asked her daughter, pointing at the rounded bodies of the two girls “I promise I’ll bring you new toys in exchange.” “Okay!” Isabella replied cheerfully.

With the three small spheres in her palm, Emma went to the kitchen and took out two small pots: she placed Layla’s marble in one pot and Sofia and Carla’s marbles in the other. After covering both pots with lids, Emma set them on the stove and turned on the heat.

After a short time, the small spheres began to lose their firmness, slowly softening and eventually melting: each turned into a semi-liquid pinkish substance. In the case of Sofia and Carla, their two bodies, melted in the same pot, started mixing until they formed a single, uniform substance.

Meanwhile, Emma had left the kitchen, and for a few minutes, the semi-liquid bodies of the three women were left on their own. Initially, some details of their bodies were still faintly visible on the surface, but the constant heat gradually smoothed them out, making them less defined.

When Emma returned to the kitchen, she found two pots containing pinkish, nearly liquid substances beginning to bubble and boil, with small bubbles popping on the surface. “Perfect. If I remember correctly, they shouldn’t melt any further” Emma commented, satisfied. She set some items she had retrieved from the basement onto the table, then removed the lids and turned off the stove, patiently waiting for the liquids to stop boiling and cool down.

After just over a minute, Emma picked up Layla’s pinkish, slime-like body with both hands: it was warm to the touch and, despite being almost liquid, remained a single cohesive substance. It couldn’t be separated into pieces, but was easily stretchable and compressible with bare hands.

“Great! It’s been years since I’ve melted someone, but I have to say, the result is perfect! And with the body being this small, it was much easier than in the past” Emma said, as she enjoyed pouring Layla’s body from one hand to the other.

“With a full-sized body, much more heat is needed to melt it completely, but in this case, all it took was a small pot and a few minutes” she added, finally placing Layla’s slime-like form on the table, where it wobbled like jelly for a while before settling.

“Plus, at this size, you’re so much more manageable” Emma said, turning her attention to the pot containing Carla and Sofia’s bodies. The two had melted into a single, indistinguishable slime: Emma picked up the sisters’ slime and examined it, easily stretching and compressing it, though unable to separate it into parts.
“As I remembered, you two are now inseparable until restoration. See, Layla? I’ve managed to make your two quarrelsome daughters stick together!” Emma joked, giving a gentle pat to Layla’s slime-like body, causing it to wobble like jelly again.

“And now, the final step” Emma announced, picking up the items she had retrieved earlier. They were a set of plastic molds in various shapes, ranging from simple geometric forms to more complex objects “I knew keeping these molds was the right choice. If I remember correctly, they were part of a playset I bought for Isabella a few years ago.”

“What shape should I choose for our dear little sisters…” Emma mused, absentmindedly playing with Carla and Sofia’s slime, compressing and releasing it in her hand like a stress ball “Got it!” she decided at last, forcefully pressing the malleable slime into the chosen mold. The sisters’ flexible bodies adapted easily to the shape, and after a bit of adjustment, Emma sealed the mold: inside, the slime was compressed, fully occupying the space and taking on the exact shape of the mold.

“Now, into the freezer for a few hours” Emma said as she placed the mold containing the sisters into the freezer, allowing their slime to solidify into the mold’s shape.

Turning her attention to Layla’s slime, which lay immobile and helpless, Emma spoke with playful delight: “As for you, dear friend, I’ve already chosen your shape” she announced “But you’ll need a little extra touch” Emma grabbed the bottle of liquid glue she had retrieved alongside the molds and poured a few drops onto Layla’s slime. Then, she picked it up and kneaded it vigorously, ensuring the glue mixed evenly with the pliable substance.

“Perfect” Emma exclaimed, her enthusiasm almost childlike, as she repeated the process she had used for the sisters. She pressed Layla’s malleable body into the chosen mold, sealing it tightly to compress the slime into the desired shape. “I can’t wait to see the final result!” Emma concluded, placing Layla’s mold alongside her daughters in the freezer to solidify.

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A couple of hours later, Isabella was happily playing with the new toy her mother had given her: Sofia and Carla’s bodies had been molded into the shape of a Godzilla toy about twenty centimeters tall, uniformly pinkish in color, with no distinctive features.

The most remarkable characteristic of the toy monster was its extreme malleability: no matter how many times Isabella squished, stretched, or rolled it into a ball, the Godzilla would always return to its monstrous form, ready to be flattened again by a landslide of other toys or rolled paper-thin by a rolling pin.

Isabella was having so much fun with the stretchy Godzilla that Emma decided to keep the toy she had shaped from Layla for herself: Layla’s malleable body had been molded into the shape of an stretchy sticky hand, consisting of a large stylized palm and a thin, stretchy cord forming the arm.

Thanks to the glue mixed into Layla’s melted body, the hand had taken on the sticky consistency typical of the toy.

Emma was slinging Layla’s sticky hand like a slingshot non stop, grabbing objects and pulling them toward her.

“Thanks for the visit and for bringing back old memories, Layla” Emma said with a chuckle as she slung Layla’s elastic body across the living room again “Just like back then, I’m still the one in charge!”