(Contains girl to car and girl to drink tfs)
“Right through here, ladies!” Elliott spun on her heels as they neared what used to be a donut shop in the emptied streets of their hometown. True to Elliott’s diagrams from earlier in the day, the ‘shard’ of world they now inhabited was sort of a squiggly shape, and its edges were walls of impenetrable fog. Traversing into the fog simply resulted in one being spat right back out. However, where Elliott had led them, at this intersection of roads, was something resembling a jagged crack in the fog. The crack appeared clear of fog but full of blinding light, and just inside was a semi circular portal of blues and whites that supposedly led to another world shard.
“I’ll warn you one more time about how this all works,” Elliott said, “The rules of the world beyond have been rewritten for the game. There is a… boss, of sorts, and if you want a chance at whatever it is you kids refer to as normalcy, you’ll need to win. Good luck!” she laughed and vanished, leaving the group of four alone with the portal.
The group stepped through the swirling blue and white vortex that stood upright before them. Danielle was the first to enter, her indignation about this entire situation evident on her expression, followed by Sophie, who utterly refused to let the common rabble, ie Chloe and Nova, to go before her. The portal rippled like water as they passed into it, distorting their forms until they were utterly gone from view. To those inside the portal, the trek was shockingly swift, and the disorienting swirling pattern quickly faded as they exited into a completely new environment.
The sun shone high in the sky, bathing the area in light without the hindrance of clouds. A breeze carried a sweet smell of flowers and freshly cut greens to the travelers and rustled the tall grass below and leafy canopies of the trees above. They appeared to have exited at the edge of a wood, the light speckled grass beneath their feet softly cushioning their steps. Curious to their new surroundings, the girls fanned out, standing side by side to take it all in. They now stood atop a hill overlooking what appeared to be a large parcel of land with a single home situated near a dirt road. The house itself was well kept on the outside and of modest size, painted red slats of wood let it stand out amongst the surrounding greenery. Though the hill they now carefully tread down from was overgrown with grass that reached to tickle their knees, weeds, and various wildflowers, the lawn itself was trimmed, fairly recently by the scent of cut grass that grew stronger as they approached. Despite the almost noon position of the sun, the grass was damp as though with dew. The sprinklers carefully positioned in the earth, nearly hidden by the grass disproved the idea, though none were on at the moment, much to the relief of Sophie in particular, who would have a meltdown should her clothes and hair be ruined by an ill-timed splash of water. As the group trekked through the grassy expanse, more details of the house became visible. It appeared to be two stories, with a wooden porch in the front. There were no vehicles in sight, and there appeared to be a shed to the side of it. The curtains were drawn in the windows, but faint light shined at the edges, revealing that it was likely inhabited. The smell of manure and the distant sounds of animals alerted the girls to the existence of livestock, though they could not see them from their current location. Probably on the other side, if one had to guess. They were also nearing the dirt road, lined on the other side by large stalks of what they assumed to be wheat, and stretching out on either side for what appeared to be miles. In the distance to their right, though, was the faded peaks of a familiar skyline – their hometown’s cityscape.
“Looks like we’re in for a hike,” Danielle sighed.
“You’re joking.” Sophie scoffed.
“Unless you’re volunteering to be our ride, yeah,” Danielle retorted.
“Maybe we can just ask the people living here!” Chloe suggested.
“Oh, yeah, a group of four total strangers knocking on a door in the middle of nowhere asking for a ride with no believable explanation of how we got here, that’ll work great. Have fun getting shot by whatever Podunk hillbilly lives there.” Sophie said derisively.
“At least she’s trying to be actually helpful instead of being a stuck-up b-” Nova pulled Chloe into a protective hug but was cut off before she could utilize her particular words of choice for how Sophie was acting by a polite but firm clearing of a throat behind the bickering group.
“Ah, couldn’t help but overhear you all needing a ride to town?” A girl with messy black hair tied in one big braid over the front of her left shoulder. She was dressed in working clothes, baggy pants with worn knees and a flannel shirt tucked in. The only oddity in her attire was a metallic circular device around her neck, almost like some sort of high-tech collar. She paid this fact no mind, despite it looking rather uncomfortable, and simply held her bucket under her arm, eyeing the strangers with bemused curiosity.
“That’s right,” Chloe piped up. From where they were all standing, Danielle and Sophie were behind Chloe and Nova, so the local didn’t quite catch the glare the former were giving one another.
“Riiight, well, we don’t got any cars here, but I can point ya to a good spot to catch a ride. There’s a fuel station right down…” she paused, spotting another girl jogging across the dirt road, waving her arms a bit. Her attention lapse caused the four newcomers to this land turn to look as well. This girl was shorter than the other local, but had the same dark hair, though hers was loose, same working clothes, though her pants were a much tighter fit and her shirt was untucked, and the same collar-like device around her neck. She seemed to possess a much more energetic personality compared to what the group assumed to be her sister.
“Hey, hey! Who’s all this?” The girl asked her counterpart, as though the group were not there to answer for themselves.
“Rude little thing,” Sophie muttered.
“Heyyy, all done with the feed already?” The taller girl greeted, “Now you didn’t go and skip out did ya? The animals need that food as much as you need yours.” Her tone made it sound like this was not the first time that question had been asked.
The girl shook her head fervently, “Nope! I fed em all, every last one!” She pledged, before turning towards the group, “Now who is all,” she jumped a bit when she turned back to the group, her eyes wide and her hand shooting to her mouth upon laying eyes on Danielle. With this rather abrupt shift in tone, the other girls looked from the shocked girl over to Dani, curiosity beginning to bubble to the surface over this latest development.
The taller one pulled the smaller one close, “Don’t you worry about her, she's just a bit shy,” she claimed.
“The girl that came running waving her arms about and shouting about us is shy?” Sophie asked, not buying it one bit.
“What’s the deal, d’you have a problem with me?” Danielle asked, hand on her hip as she stepped forward, towards the pair. The taller one shook her head, ready to defend the girl’s reaction, but Danielle was not having it, “Didn’t ask you,” she snapped a bit harshly. Perhaps the ordeal of her whole situation was getting to her. Nova and Chloe shared a glance, mutually and silently agreeing not to interfere, lest Dani’s little tantrum find a new target. This was a song and dance they’d been through in one form or another many times before. Danielle leaned over the smaller girl, “We need a ride to town. Now are you gonna help us or what? Help us find a car to take us to the city, and we’ll be outta your hair in no time.” Her tone was fairly intense, stressed, even. This did not prepare Danielle for the look of shock and fear the girls gave her, then each other.
“No… no no no,” the taller one murmured, watching the smaller one stagger backwards, “What did we do to you!?” She snapped at Danielle suddenly, her voice breaking.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Danielle asked, raising her hands in innocence.
“Did you cast a spell?” Chloe asked, confused.
“No, as a matter of fact I didn’t!”
“Ohhhhh…” The short girl’s groans gathered the attention of the arguing group. A light on her collar blinked rapidly before turning a solid green color. Her body shivered, then she shot to a rigid upright pose. Small whimpers escaped her mouth and her eyes darted between the coldly curious Danielle and Sophie, to the slightly more empathetic but equally unwilling to help Nova and Chloe, then to the taller one, whose face was a mixture of emotions. The girl’s blood went cold when she, too, stepped back, resigning the smaller one to her sealed fate.
She first felt it in her belly, where she always was told it would begin. Her skin prickled with goosebumps as a wave of cold radiated from her middle. Her shirt began to ride up from her belly’s distension, though it mostly grew wider at first rather than outward. She lifted her hands to her stunned face and watched a thick, black substance coat and spread over them, leaving them useless rounded nubs. Her wrists took on a metallic sheen and as that spread, her joints appeared to become separate shapes connected by welding marks and bolts to her rigid limbs. The girl’s growth accelerated, starting to strain her clothing on all sides. She was growing both outward and upward, her torso now very boxy and rectangular. Eventually the collar hissed and detached itself from her neck. Without it to stem the tide, the girl yelped as her neck thickened quickly to catch up, and her head began to widen considerably, beginning to sink into her neck and torso. All the while, the black substance on her hands began to swell as well, bulging and hissing as though being inflated with air. A shredding sound marked the loss of her boots, revealing her feet as equally swollen black nubs as well. With her rounded feet and new center of balance, the girl began to fall forward, forcing her to catch herself on her hands to avoid slamming into the ground. Notably, her neck nor her torso bent at all in anticipation, likely because they no longer could. The wheels that her hands and feet had become rolled in place along the axles that her wrists had become, slowly but surely leaving the girl prone, balanced on her wheels.
She made one last pleading look to the taller girl, “Please… make it sto-OOONK! HNNNNNN-ot this! Not like thi-HOOONK!” Her words were being drowned out by the sound of a car horn as her face and body widened in unison. Her clothes were ripped to pieces, revealing not the sight of a naked young woman, but rather the shrunken chassis of a typical sedan. Her body took on a silvery sheen and her mouth stretched to become an unassuming grill on the front. Ears stretched and positioned themselves as side mirrors, and eyes lost all human definition, becoming unblinking, unlit headlights. There was much grinding and clunking, shifting and groaning, before she finally settled on her wheels as a more perfect fit. Her keys hung in the driver side door, and a silence fell over the group. While Danielle was no stranger to such a thing, she knew for a fact that she cast no spell.
“I hope you’re happy,” The taller girl growled, fists clenched at her sides as she stared at her boots, unable to look at the car, “You just couldn’t be bothered to walk a mile, could ya? You just had to have a car, didn’t you!?” She snapped, tears in her eyes.
“Like I keep saying, I didn’t do anything!” Danielle barked back.
“What are you, stupid!? You made the damn collars you oughta know a Helper model when you see one!” The girl screamed, “Or did you just want me to say it? You heartless monster…”
“I dunno who you think I am, but I just got here lady, I don’t know anything about these collars.” Danielle insisted.
“Hah… Like I’m gonna believe a snake like you. I don’t care what you do to me, I’ll be damned if I let you walk away!” She screeched, rushing Danielle down to attack her. It wasn’t as though she thought she had any chance of winning, any chance of retaining her form, but she was just so completely sick of being ruled by her fear that she almost welcomed the inevitable activation of her collar.
Already heated and stressed both from the sick game she was forced to play and from the utterly ridiculous accusations this idiot farm girl was slinging her way. Frankly? She had had enough. Standing tall and self assured, she lifted her hand and bent her arm so it was over her opposite shoulder, then swung as though to slap the insolent girl as she charged at the witch. The bigger girl fully expected to be decimated by this woman. She had long since known that her fate was sealed, but this way felt strangely free, as though she had finally decided something for herself. That feeling began to erode as a wave of magical energy hit her and her confidence was shaken. Her body seized, and she braced for the end. For her collar to activate and for her to join the others in the pig pen or the chicken coop, but nothing of the sort occurred. Her body felt rigid. Stiff. Perhaps just in shock? She’d watched a fair few succumb to the collars and she knew what her collar was to turn her into. Seconds stretched until they felt like hours, and she opened her eyes, gasping at what she saw. Her body was locked in place, mid-run, so she had a clear view of her arm despite being unable to move her head or neck, and what she saw made her blood run cold. That is if she even had blood any longer. Her hand was stiff, with a distinct shine of plastic, and completely see through. No flesh, no bone, no blood. No no no, this was all wrong. Fur - she was supposed to grow fur and- and hooves! She was supposed to squeal and writhe and flail as she lost her humanity to the wild world of being an animal. Gone, of course, but alive! Dumb, perhaps, but free of this hell! Her eyes darted to the car that had once been the younger girl. She saw no proof of life from her. No sentience. Icy fear gripped her as her attention was wrenched back to her arm. As the transparency traveled down her arm she did see a liquid in her body sloshing down towards her torso. It was pink and light. Certainly not blood. It splashed about with a water-like consistency and she could feel her innards becoming this sweet scented liquid, sloshing against her hollowed out skin. Panic set in as she heard the crinkle of a thin plastic bottle being crushed as her arms were squeezed and crumpled, moving more and more inwards towards her torso, causing a cramping sensation along the way. Similarly she felt the liquid inside bounce and splash inside as her legs, too, receded in violent, squeezing bursts. The girl’s lips hardened and pursed, as if alluringly despite her inner fear and her eyes lost detail and definition, causing her vision to fail her. Without limbs and without sight, the girl was left to ponder her body, mentally mapping it out even as she unknowingly shrunk down, her only hint to that being a slight sense of vertigo. What she did feel was her proportions… widening. She felt the liquid squeezing and pushing out in several places, making room in her chest and hips for it to settle. Something hard protruded atop her head, and she was left as a rather indecent plastic bottle with an exaggerated woman’s frame as its shape, filled with pink lemonade.
“You coming?” Nova called to Danielle, who had stopped to watch the transformation in its entirety while the others piled into the car. Danielle stooped to pick up her refreshing beverage, pondered the collar that lay in the heap of clothing the girl had once worn, and left to join her friends.
The drive was long, and mostly uneventful as the girls drove on empty country roads towards the city, discussing what it was that they knew so far. It was not lost on them the fear that those farm girls had displayed, and the things that the bigger one had said hung as big questions amongst the group. Someone that they had mistaken Dani for apparently made these collars that turned the girl into a car. They had mentioned the girl had been wearing something called a ‘helper’ model, which coincided with what Dani had told her to do; help them find a car. Despite the seemingly similar transformative magic of the collar, the taller girl had been genuinely surprised by Danielle changing her with raw magic, and had apparently not expected to turn into a plastic bottle of pink lemonade, which Danielle had finished drinking and tossed out the window.
“Are we gonna stand out for not having collars on?” Nova asked.
“They seem to think I made em, so maybe we just use that excuse,” Danielle suggested with a shrug.
“We can intimidate anyone we please with that kind of leverage to get answers.” Sophie added with a bit too much delight for Chloe’s liking, who stayed quiet behind the wheel.
“Well, whatever we do, we gotta focus on finding whoever is in charge and take em down. Until we know more about who set this whole damn thing up, we just gotta play their stupid game.” Danielle muttered. A murmur of general agreement followed the sentiment as the girls began to enter the city proper. Traffic was surprisingly light compared to their home, but they suspected that, like their own world, this one was but a slice of the original, twisted for their unknown game master’s ends. Every single person they saw was wearing one of the collars. Barely anyone acknowledged one another in any way besides quick glances and suspicious grimaces. Unsure of where best to begin, Chloe parked at the public library. If this world was changed fundamentally, perhaps there were books that explained whatever new history was inflicted on it.
The girls piled out of the car in the almost empty lot and headed for the door. A few of the pedestrians spotted them and hurriedly changed course to avoid them, and Danielle puffed her chest out to give off more of an air of authority.
“Can I assist y-” the librarian’s heart leaped into her throat, and she could swear she felt her helper model collar tighten on her neck as she spotted Danielle and her entourage. “Ah, i-Imperatrix-” she stuttered fearfully, “To what do I owe… I mean that is to say…” she was whimpering like a mouse staring across from the hungriest cat on earth.
“Yeah, I think you can,” Danielle began, before faltering almost immediately. She had no idea who Imperatrix was, or what that could possibly mean, but she had the sudden realization that if she asked too many or the wrong questions, she could be found out. So, she sauntered up to the desk and slammed her hand down, “Pop quiz!” she declared, confidently, “What is my name?”
Her clothes were far different, but there was little recourse for the little librarian but to believe that this was, in fact, the woman she believed her to be. I mean, she had no collar, her face was the same, her hair, her tone, everything else lined up. So, with a wilted squeak she mustered an answer, “I-Imperatrix Danielle Owens, your grace…”
Nova and Chloe shared a glance with one another. So there was a Danielle in this world that was some sort of dictator? While Dani grilled the poor librarian, the pair of them headed off to further investigate the library for any books on the history of how this version of their world came to be. Sophie noticed them go, but would rather watch Danielle pretend to be impressive than pal around with the pair of them.
“Next question,” Danielle said, “What do I do?” she asked, almost flinching at her own lack of ability to come up with questions on the fly.
“I… I mean you uhm, I don’t- I s-suppose you do whatever you wish…” She said with a lowered gaze. Honestly, Danielle probably would’ve liked it here if not for not being this world’s Danielle and still missing her sister.
“Where can I be found?” Danielle asked, hoping to be pointed towards some sort of office or home or something. Sounded like this Imperatrix Danielle was the boss Elliott mentioned, and all it would take is storming in and wiping her with some magic to move on. After all, if she relied on these stupid collars, there was no way her alternate would be able to beat the real deal, she surmised, confidently.
The door slammed open, causing both Danielle and Sophie to whip around in surprise, and for the librarian to scream. Standing there in the doorway was Danielle. However, this Danielle wore a long, black coat that reached her heeled, black boots that themselves reached her knees. The coat was adorned with medals and epaulettes almost militaristic in nature, and she wore some sort of uniform hat marked with similar symbols to the medals on her coat. A playful smirk touched this version of Danielle’s lips and she stretched her gloves taut in a surprisingly intimidating way. She took one step into the building, and several seemingly autonomous magical constructs made in vaguely humanoid shape of metal and stone and other materials with some sort of magical energy flowing between disjointed parts to grant movement fanned out flanking her. She took in the sight of her doppelganger and spoke, answering the final question of the quiz herself.
“Right here.”