The first sight that met them, venturing out into the stone brick hallways of Mel’s shard, was vines. The entrance room had had a few, but not the bulky masses adorning the walls out in the shard proper.

Delta took one look at them, then turned a devious expression Zoey’s way. “Let me guess,” she said. “Those aren’t just vines.”

“They are,” Zoey said. “Just … ones happy to show a girl a good time.”

“I’m jealous. If we weren’t in a hurry, I’d ask if I could have a round or two.”

“Honestly, we never got that chance, either,” Zoey said. The vines had gotten their hands—grips?—on her and Rosalie, but they hadn’t really, well, violated them.

“You didn’t?”

“They got us, but they didn’t do much.” Zoey cleared her throat. “Though they could’ve. Maybe because this is only a first advancement shard?” So it had been less perverted than it could be.

“Something’s wrong,” Rosalie said.

Which, of course, was a phrase that cut through her and Delta’s exchange. They faced Rosalie.

“Look at them,” Rosalie said. “They’re not like before.”

Frowning, Zoey looked closer.

And she was right. The mass of vines drooping down the stonebrick wall were behaving oddly. Erratically. Before, in their previous delve, they’d been practically sedate, at least up until the point they’d scooped her and Rosalie up. But now? They twitched in place. Not thrashing about, but visibly restless.

“What’d’you mean?” Delta asked. “Looks about what I’d expect from a bunch of perverted vines.” She snickered. “Maybe they’ve been neglected too long.”

“Mel said she might go ‘haywire’,” Zoey said. “That the damage might do stuff to her.” She hadn’t been clear on what that meant. “Think this is related? Or something else?”

“I don’t like the look of it,” Rosalie said.

“Maybe we can test it?” Delta suggested. “Quickest way to find out is hands-on, right?”

At two pairs of raised eyebrows, the fox-girl pouted.

“Please?” she said. “I’ll be quick. Rubbing up against blondie got me all worked up. And vines sound fun.”

Rosalie started sputtering, and Zoey just shook her head, exasperated.

Delta sighed, then waved Rosalie forward. They made a wide arc around the mass of vines. It wasn’t a particular subtle trap; they would have to disregard it entirely to be caught. Either out of ignorance, or intention, as Delta had wanted.

“So not fair,” the foxgirl muttered, eying the vines as they passed.

They hugged the wall, as far as possible from the trap. Doing so, it shouldn’t have attacked them, not by the previous standards of the shard.

But as Rosalie cleared the constricted portion of hallway, with Delta not past, and Zoey not quite entered into their range yet, the vines writhed, coming to life, then whipped out. Zoey stumbled a step backward, but they only had eyes for their nearest target.

Despite how Delta had been volunteering for this a second ago, she struggled as vines burst forward and wrapped around her ankles. She stumbled and fell, cursing, as more of the green ropes attacked, gripping her around her calves and thighs.

Zoey and Rosalie readied themselves to break their friend out, but Delta shouted, “Wait. Let’s see what happens.”

Zoey hesitated, a spell half-formed, and looked to Rosalie. Alarm was on her face, but if Delta was requesting it, then maybe seeing what happened was fine. It let them know what to expect for the rest of the shard. Plus, even with the advancement difference, breaking her out of a triggered trap could exacerbate the problem.

And maybe the two of them had more selfish reasons. Seeing their orange-haired companion’s thighs squeezed, and her breasts, wrapped with powerful vines, was far from something Zoey didn’t want to see.

In only a few short moments—the time she and Rosalie spent hesitating—Delta had been fully secured by plantlife and lifted into the air. She had struggled at the start, purely from surprise, but quickly relaxed into the encounter.

Zoey shared a look with Rosalie, uncertain. Rosalie considered, her lips pursing, then sighed and shrugged.

Delta could have her fun, then. Purposefully indulging would’ve been too indiscretionary, seeing how they were on a time limit, but the vines behaving oddly and lashing out—despite being outside their range—was something worth observing. Maybe it would reveal something to do with the ‘breakdown’ of the shard? Because traps shouldn’t be unavoidable, right? Especially for the low advancement environment they found themselves in. Last time, they’d only needed to pick carefully around the vines.

Those were excuses, though. The real reason Zoey let it happen was more obvious.

Zoey scooted past the mass of vines, trying to make it to Rosalie without getting scooped up herself. Fortunately, the plant’s attention was on Delta, now, as thick appendages wrapped around the foxgirl and squeezed.

Rosalie watched, concerned, eyes flicking between her and Delta, but Zoey made it across the edge unmolested.

“She’s a pervert,” Rosalie said simply. “She should at least pretend she doesn’t want it this much.”

Zoey politely didn’t mention that, for all Delta’s enthusiasm, it was actually Rosalie who Zoey had seen demonstrate more … zealousness. Just, only when things got going, unlike Delta, whose demeanor matched both in the thick of things, and leading up to them.

Again, she allowed her poor, repressed girlfriend her delusions.

She snuck an arm around her waist, too, leaning into her as they watched their teammate be played with by thick green ropes. Nothing had happened yet—no penetration—but Zoey doubted that would last for long.

“You know, she’s right,” Zoey said. “We never did get to play with the vines much. That’s kind of a shame.”

Rosalie shot her an incredulous look.

“Though I suppose in the following months, we’ll have plenty of opportunity. Future shards are sure to be … exciting. We’ll get a chance at some point.”

“No, thank you,” Rosalie said.

“It doesn’t look fun? Not even a bit?”

Rosalie just huffed.

The hand Zoey had wrapped around Rosalie’s waist dipped lower, pressing between her girlfriend’s legs—which extracted a little gasp of surprise.

“You know,” Zoey said, “you make fun of me for my body betraying me, but you’re just as bad. Look. You’re practically drenched.” She rubbed, spreading the slickness around. “Not that you’re hard to read, without it. I hope you know that. That you’re easy to see through.” She leaned close to Rosalie’s ear. “Watching your teammate get fucked by vines shouldn’t excite you this much, Rosie.”

Not that Zoey was spared from a similar reaction. But teasing Rosalie was something even a saint couldn’t manage.

Rosalie couldn’t even muster a ‘hmph’, this time. She shivered in place as Zoey rubbed and played with her. Rosalie leaned into Zoey’s side, and the two of them watched Delta squirm in a mass of wriggling vines.

“Go in, won’t you?” Delta gasped. “I’m ready. Stop the teasing.” Her hips bucked up and down, offering herself.

“So shameless,” Rosalie muttered.

The vines adjusted Delta, spreading her legs apart and exposing her pussy—very deliberately, it seemed, toward the foxgirl’s two spectators. A thick green rope laid itself across her core, rubbing up and down, spreading Delta apart along its shaft. Delta moaned, shivering in place, but the noise was cut off with a surprised choking sound as another vine intruded. She gagged as her throat distended outward, the invasion swift and violent.

Rosalie’s hand wrapped around Zoey’s cock, and the two of them stroked each other as they watched the show.

The vine rubbing against Delta’s pussy stopped teasing. It pulled back, placing its head against between her pussy lips, then pushed forward, spreading them apart. She groaned—a choking noise, suffocated by the rope cramming her throat—and the sound grew louder and more strangled when the vines gentle advance turned into a forceful one. A thick, slimy vine shoved into Delta’s pussy, filling her up. They weren’t small, either. Though the invasion didn’t make Delta bulge as Zoey’s cock might have, each thrust was still fully on display.

Flipping the foxgirl over—still keeping her indulgently framed for Rosalie and Zoey’s viewing pleasure—the vines approached the last of Delta’s holes to claim. Two smaller ones grabbed her cheeks and spread her ass apart, opening the way for a thicker, larger than the rest, one to line itself up. Zoey’s eyes widened at the sheer girth. The perverted plant wasn’t going easy on Delta. Maybe that was because of how visibly Delta was enjoying it.

Indeed, the enormous vine pressing against Delta’s asshole didn’t discourage the woman in the slightest. She squirmed and whined, throat and pussy being violated, and shoved her ass up, encouraging her attacker to complete the three-pronged invasion.

The vine pushed in, spreading Delta’s backdoor apart. It went slow, struggling to fit, and even the experienced woman’s moan became slightly pained—and louder and more excited for the fact.

Then it popped in, and their teammate had three vines thrusting in and out of her.

“She’s way too good at this,” Rosalie muttered. “All three? At once?”

Zoey was also impressed.

They enjoyed the show—and Delta, her circumstances—for several long minutes, the vines making sure to satiate their willing captive. Like usual, Rosalie came first, Zoey’s skilled fingers taking her apart quickly and efficiently. Rosalie’s own stroking went forgotten, but Zoey didn’t mind; she was having much more fun toying with Rosalie, and enjoying Delta’s show.

The vines, and their captive, came next.

Delta twitched and moaned, hips jerking, as she fell apart from a three-pronged attack. The vines swelled and pumped their own sticky payload out. Pink liquid dribbled from Delta’s mouth, out her nose, and from her pussy and ass, too.

The sight alarmed Zoey. Aphrodisiac? And so much of it, poured into all three of Delta’s holes. She should have expected that. It changed things. Maybe this hadn’t been smart. But the damage was already done.

When the vines set their thoroughly-fucked foxgirl teammate to the ground, she groaned and rolled over, facing Zoey as she heaved in breaths. Her violet eyes locked to Zoey’s—except instead of violet, they had gone a startlingly bright pink.

And rather than looking satisfied by having sampled the vines, Delta looked at the two of them, hungry for more.

Zoey really should have expected this.