Picture by Hao
"Billy, Simon, Todd, and Fred," the manager called into the kitchen, getting the four boys to stop their work. Shades of fear and nervousness crossed the quartet's faces. "A premium customer just ordered the special," she told them as panic started to swell, "And you knew the risks when you signed up for the job." The four looked at each other, eyes wild with fear. "Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way," she told them, her eyes starting to glow. Todd turned to run, not even completing his 180 before she seized him. "You stupid boy," she grumbled before she swept her hand to the side, forcing the man onto the table. "N-no," Todd begged, unable to move, "Please." "Shut up and face your fate like a man," she argued, swiping her hand over his mouth, sealing it shut.
The remaining trio gasped as she began to work, kneading Todd's body with practiced precision as it started to change. The smell of yeast fills the air as his body started to melt, turning into an amorphous blob. She pressed her palms into him, flattening his now featureless body into a circle before tossing him into the air. With an unceremonious thud, the unbaked crust of a pizza landed on the table; no sign of Todd anywhere to be seen. She turned back to the remaining men. "Who's next?" She dared, but no one volunteered.
She rolled her eyes, picking at random before grabbing Simon with her magic, throwing him on top of Todd's body. He didn't even have time to yelp as his skin turned red, the aroma of tomato and basil permeating the room. His eyes flashed fear before his entire body flowed onto Todd, now with a thin layer of pizza sauce slathered onto its former friend. She pulled a ladle from a container, carefully spreading Simon around to evenly coat Todd before turning back to the last two. "I'll tell you what," she chided, "If either of you volunteers to be the cheese, I'll double your severance package to your families." The pair looked at each other, the idea of submitting to such a fate beyond comprehension.
"Very well," she sighed, pointing at Billy, who immediately froze. Fred looked on in horror as Billy turned paler and paler. Billy tried to raise his hands but found his motor functions failing. He looked Fred in the eye before his limb retracted into his torso as he became a giant mozzarella pearl. His body floated over to join his friends, the manager pulling a cheese grater from another table. She ran the instrument across his body, shreds of mozzarella falling into both Simon and Todd. She gingerly spread the strands across the pizza until most of Simon was hidden by them. She clapped her hands together to get the last bits of Billy off her before turning to Fred, an order slip appearing in her hand.
"Mushrooms, peppers, onions, and pepperoni," she said aloud before pointing at Fred, "Not my favorite, but a customer is a customer." Fred felt his body shift as he was pushed towards the table. He felt him get lifted into the air before suddenly being divided into four pieces. The expected pain of being torn to pieces never came; instead, Fred experienced impossible pleasure. Tears rolled down his face, but not from fear; instead, his head reconstituted itself as an onion, dropping onto the table next to the pizza. His chest grew round and green, his arms retreating into his body as his torso became a green pepper that was placed next to the onion. His hips expanded in all directions, forcing him to look like he was wearing a poofy dress before it turned brown, morphed into a portobello mushroom. Lastly, his legs forced themselves together, their hue turning red as they formed a log of pepperoni, removing the last vestiges of humanity from Fred.
She took out a chef's knife, expertly slicing the pieces of Fred into decent-sized chunks, dropping them onto the awaiting pizza. As soon as he touched the pizza, he felt the moans of pleasure from the other three men, apparently enjoying their new forms. Unwelcome joy came to them as they were forced to mix with each other, their thoughts of resistance fighting to not get buried below a mountain of joy. She picked up the pie, dropping the tray onto the conveyor oven. The four felt the heat melding them, permanently sealing them together as one collective. They rolled through the oven, the last traces of opposition left behind as they embraced their new forms.
She took the pizza from the oven with a wooden peel, putting it back onto the table that had sealed the four's fate. She smiled as she ran the pizza cutter across them, knowing how much they loved being food. "Your final paychecks will be sent to your family," she told the pie, "Consider this a thank you for your loyal service here at The Upper Crust." She opened the kitchen door with her hips, carrying the boys into the dining area and placing them before a blonde woman who smiled. "Enjoy," the manager told the woman before leaving the table and the pizza, to its new life.