The Influencer Showdown

In a dimly lit arena, slight murmurs could be heard moments before the big show. The large LCD screens generously spread across the space all instructed the audience on how to behave. The game was broadcast on live television after all! They were currently displaying a character performing a hushing motion, still, not everyone in the audience were as diligent when it came to instructions. No matter, so long as the vast majority followed the screens, the TV watchers would never be the wiser.

Suddenly, lights overflowed the near empty stage. A rumbling began building over the large speakers mounted alongside the large, black plateau, struts and ceiling. For any fan of the show, the rumbling only meant one thing. The intro jingle, always followed by the beloved host, Dupont Flemming.

The much too smooth game show host looked more at home in a car dealership than on national television. His dark brown hair always styled in the same slick back haircut and tailored suit were never out of place. Not even once in his long, successful career as host had he as much as stuttered. The show seemed almost scripted due to the perfect nature of his performances. But that just wouldn't be possible. The game was, at the end of the day, heavily reliant on audience participation!

As the jingle slowly faded, a lone figure traversed the vast, black stage, reaching the scorching heat of the roof mounted spotlight.

"Aaaaand welcome back to everybody's favorite show, Changers! Where we change, not only the game, but the contestants themselves! I hope you're as excited for this episode as I am, because we have some very special guests coming in tonight!"

Whether the contestants were actually changed during the game or not was a highly debated topic. Some claimed they were just paid, highly trained actors. Others genuinely believed that everything, including the live, in-arena show, was done with effects and CGI. One thing they all could agree on however, it was the best entertainment anyone could ask or on a Friday evening. Viewership numbers on "normal" broadcasts often rivaled those of high profile sporting events. There were however special events that skyrocketed the popularity of an episode, such as the appearance of celebrities or other personalities. Today's show was exactly that. A highly anticipated showdown between two disgustingly famous internet personalities. So-called influencers.

As with any episode, the game the contestants would be playing was already decided beforehand. Being something they were both, approximately, equally good (or equally bad) at.

Sometimes large rearrangement of the stage were necessary to facilitate for the game in question. Once, the entire thing was built to replicate a circus for the sake of two circus performers going at it with all their acrobatic might. Suffice it to say, neither returned to their circus employer following the show..

Dupont had the textbook shit-eating grin commonly found on people who enjoyed the spotlight a little too much. And enjoy it he did. Soaking in the applause, he waited just a little longer than necessary to wave in the first contestant.

"Our first contestant of the evening is someone who needs no introduction. Adored in all corners of the internet, it's Britney Sheen, or as most of you know her, Sheening Star!"

Not a single word Dupont said was every truly candid. It was all showmanship. Introducing some influencer with the engagement of a thousand suns came as easy to him as breathing. Holding back a snicker while uttering her stage-name or whatever was slightly harder, though still very much within his capabilities.

The crowd erupted as the tall and leggy online-superstar strutted into view, her brown luscious hair bouncing against her back with every step. While her walk didn't hold a candle to that of a trained catwalk model, it was clearly practiced, probably serving her well when it came to promoting her sponsors to insecure girls all around the world. Plastered across her face was a fake smile that could give even Dupont a run for his money. Clearly, she was used to being in front of a crowd, albeit a digital one. Still, her time in the spotlight was obvious by how comfortable she seemed walking up to her booth, keeping her eyes on the audience, occasionally glancing towards the TV cameras and giving the viewers at home a subtle nod as well. Every move she ever made was a calculated one. Knowing that it was the audience that had the last word when it came to the voting, getting on their good side would be her main priority for the early stages of the show.

"Well isn't she a treat for the eyes? No wonder she was so highly requested by, you, our viewers!"

Having watched a few episodes as preparations for the show, Britney had quickly picked up on the type of character Dupont was. Instead of talking to her, he instead put all his focus on the viewers, talking about her as if she was a bag of meat. Not once had he done that with a male contestant. It was hard for her to judge whether this was his actual personality, or just something he did for the show. The two hadn't interacted directly yet, and any chance she'd have to talk with him now would be here, on stage, where he obviously had to keep up appearances and stay in character for the audience.

The applause sign faded to dark once more, and the audience slowly went quiet, awaiting Dupont's next words eagerly.

"Quickly, before your opponent gets here! Got a strategy for the evening Britney, or should I say Sheening star?"

He spoke in a half whisper, as if that would prevent the multi million-dollar speaker setup from blasting his words into the backroom where her opponent was awaiting her cue.

Not wanting her disdain for the beloved host to be shown, she kept up her fake smile and answered.

"Nothing in particular, Mr Flemming. I'm just gonna give it my all, and hope that the audience is better at guessing than her!"

"Putting your full faith in the audience I see? I like that! A gambler! Let's see if it pays off!"

His focus once again returned to the vast arena. He paused for a moment, letting anticipation build again before initiating the second contestant's introduction.

Mercedes Venice Beaumont stood backstage, eagerly awaiting her own introduction. Her initial reaction upon hearing that she'd be introduced last was anger. After all, she was the more successful, of course she should be up first. That was at least until her de facto lackey told her that it was better to come last, as she'd be the freshest in the viewers mind and that she would not "lose" the attention when the other contestant was being introduced.

The lackey in question was James. Never mind his last name, as Mercedes could never be bothered to remember it. He was the secret behind her online success.

Coming from a wealthy family, Mercedes never really had to do anything with her life, but her taste for attention and fame lead her to begin her online persona. Of course, her looks and wealth alone were enough to pique the interest of people all over, but her travel content was the slam dunk. With the funds of her family, she could afford to travel anywhere. Her personal aid, that being James, planned each trip meticulously, filmed everything, took every photo except for selfies, and edited it all before posting it to the various "Venii" channels.

Like a dog waiting for permission to eat its food, Mercedes almost sprinted on to stage when she heard her name over the muffled speakers. In contrast to Britney's walk, Mercedes skipped across stage, almost dancing, her sparkly and bubbly personality on full display. At only five foot three, or 160 cm tall, she was a shining ball of happiness. It was that vibe that really made her big on socials in the first place. Paired with her exotic, half Persian ethnicity, she was also popular among brands that wanted to score points for multiculturalism.

Skipping over to her booth, Mercedes took in the room. Even after having seen the show on TV, the sheer size of the audience still caught her by surprise. Even better than she'd imagined it. Not to mention the millions of viewers tuning in from all over the world to watch the spectacle. Her booth is pointed towards the audience at an angle, with Brittney's booth mirroring her own at the other side of the stage. Dupont stands in the middle, turned slightly towards Mercedes.

"So, our lovely Persian beauty, what is your game plan this evening?"

"Game plan? I don't think there's any need for that! I'll just draw super good! I actually took some lessons last week to get better."

That last part was almost a whisper, but with the booth mounted microphone, anyone in the arena could hear it clear as day.

Not everyone could afford the pricey services of professional artists to perform at a game show of all things, but Mercedes could. Her first instinct was always to throw money at an issue or challenge, it usually worked..

Meanwhile, Brittney had spent many days following free tutorials online. Plenty of markers, pencils, brushes and paper later, she was feeling pretty confident in her skill. Hard work always pays. That was her mantra. Coming from a lower working-class family, her back was against the wall when betting on her influencer career. Fortunately, it had paid off for her, and she could live a lavish life like the ones she'd envied growing up.

"In competitions like these, confidence is key! Seems like Mercedes here has brought that in spades! I suppose it's time to get this party started. And remember, anything can happen here at-"

"CHANGERS!!!"

The crowd roared in unison and on beat with the pyrotechnic effects installed along the edge of the stage.

"And while I know most, if not all of you are familiar with the concept of our show, the rules differ from episode to episode! For this particular one, our contestants have both agreed to a game of draw and guess. The rules are simple. Each contestant gets a word they have to draw. The audience, and the opposing player will both get to guess what the word is. The most voted guess from you, the audience, will be the final guess."

Dupont took a step back and gave himself some time to breathe. Reading the rules of the games like this was always tedious. Besides memorizing everything, he also had to make them seem like the most interesting thing in the world. Episodes where the rules were difficult to keep track of tended to score worse than those with easy concepts.

"Up to ten points can be granted based on the percentage of the audience that voted on the correct word, so clarity is alfa-omega here, girls! But being too obvious with your drawing may also be against your own interests. Keep in mind, your opponent is also granted a guess. If they guess correctly, it will shave the amount of points you receive in half, not to mention that they will receive two points of their own! Any questions?"

Dupont already knew that the girls had been thoroughly briefed on the rules of the game. just briefly glancing at each of them, before turning his attention back to the audience. If there were a lot of confused looks in the audience, he'd double down and put it in even simpler terms. Thankfully, the vast majority of the audience appeared to have understood the concept.

"Right. So, what do you do with the points then? Well, ain't that obvious, you use them on your opponent to make them-"

"CHANGE!!!"

The audience erupted once more. There were certain parts of the show that repeated every time, and any time the concept was brought up, the audience went absolutely wild with enthusiasm. The idea of changing someone with the press of a button was thrilling beyond anything else most of them had experienced in their life. A sense of control and power similar to that of a God, remaking someone in their own image.

"As per usual, points are spent by the players. There are four ways to spend points. Minor physical changes, such as hair and voice, and major physical changes like weight or race. We've also got an assortment of mental changes for you this evening. While we don't like to reveal them before they're presented for you to vote on, examples like speech and choice of footwear can be found in the minor mental category. Bigger changes, such as sexual orientation and intelligence will be in the mental major category. After each round of guessing, both contestants will be allowed to spend their points on one of the four categories I just listed. The prices are as follows"

The LCD screens around the stadium lit up with the respective value for each category. An equivalent graphic was also featured on the live broadcast for the TV audiences.

Physical minor: 4 points.

Physical Major 7 points.

Mental minor: 6 points.

Mental Major: 11 points.

"For those of you that are extra perceptive, you may have noticed that the Major changes are less than twice as expensive as the minor ones. This is to motivate the contestants to save their points for bigger "rewards". There is however an incentive to spend them on minor things as well! Changing your opponent can be both disruptive and chip away at both focus and morale. As you may know, the game ends when one of the contestants have received 10 points worth of changes, or if they concede. One major change contributes 2 points, while minor ones only contribute 1 towards the total. Physical changes are cheaper by default because they tend to, in our experience, be less obstructive to a player's ability to play. As I'm sure you understand, IQ reduction will be much more valuable than giving your opponent larger breasts in a competition of skill and wit.."

With the introductions and explanations all out of the way, Dupont signaled for the technical crew to initiate the beginning of round 1. As the lights dimmed, a mounted screen within each booth lit up the players faces with their prompts for round 1.

"And with that. We're ready for this evening's first round of-"

"CHANGERS!!!"

Finally got around to publishing this first actual chapter on here. I've got an ongoing poll on my Patreon for all members, including free ones, to gather requests for the transformation categories. If you like this story so far, don't hesitate to drop ideas or requests in the comments on this page, on my Patreon or even my DM's if you're feeling particularly shy.