Date: Sun, 2 Mar 2014 15:11:17 +0000
From: Mat W <mattspank74@gmail.com>
Subject: The Challenge Part Two

Always keen to get feedback on this – I have some plans for the next
instalment...

Email me with suggestions, views, etc. mattspank74@gmail.com

=========================================================================

So, after four weeks of challenges, the scoreboard stood at:
Scott, 22, 46 points
Pete, 28, 44 points
Luis, 26, 43 points

Not only had this run of `The Challenge' been one of the most popular, with
host Lionel Peel kept reminding the audience, they'd never had so many
calls since the second series when the one and only celebrity run of the
programme had led to a former soap star condemned to 10 years as the slave
of an elderly lady from Cornwall, but it had also been one of the closest
fought battles – the lead on the scoreboard had changed every week, and
it was only on the very last challenge of the fourth episode that Scott had
pulled ahead by two points from Pete.

As the final programme of the run started, the three lads were, as is
usual, standing on plinths in their tuxedos. The plinths were at different
heights to show their relative positions on the scoreboard. Normally there
would be more of a gap between the heights, but this time there was hardly
anything between the three lads.

"This week, any of these three lads could walk away with a fortune. The
phone lines are closed, we will be introducing our `winner from home and in
less than one hour he or she will be walking away with one of these
gorgeous lads as their slave."

The audience in the studio went wild, and the camera moved close up on each
of the lad's faces in turn. Scott looked nervous, Pete looked slightly
scared, and Luis's face, as it had throughout the run, betrayed no emotion
whatsoever.

A look back on the previous few weeks was shown next – the audience were
reminded of Scott dropping a ball in the agility round which cost him 10
points, Luis beating the other two lads in the logic round to everyone's
amazement, the tie in the general knowledge round (the first time a three
way tie had been seen), and the look of grim determination on Pete's face
as he lifted more weight than the other two to get back into second place
in the previous week.

As always, a pre-recorded piece followed, with Lionel interviewing the
three lads and their friends and families talking about the challenges,
their hopes, fears and ambitions. All the families expressed the usual hope
that their lad would not be the loser – no-one wanted their mate to end
up as a slave!

Their followed an ad break devoted to the show's sponsor, Smith and Jones
Slave dealership. Alan Smith himself, the owner of the dealership, showed
viewers round their holding area to see the slaves currently available for
sale. As it was a lads run of The Challenge, all the slaves shown were also
lads. Four lads between 19 and 40 were shown, naked and collared, all
available for bids as soon as The Challenge finished. Anyone who had placed
a vote on the programme (if you called in, you allowed your number to be
recorded and passed on) would be entitled to 20% off the price of the slave
if their bid were to be successful in the auction which would close an hour
after the programme.

Back to The Challenge, and Lionel was about to introduce the `winner from
home'.

"So, lads, you're about to meet the person – or is it people? – who
will be one of your owners within the next 25 minutes!

"We've had the highest number of calls for a very long time and, just to
show that our winner from home is selected completely at random, this
week's winner called once and that just 10 minutes before the lines closed
last week!

"Let's not waste any more time."

Lionel gestured to a pair of doors at the back of the set,

"Ladies and gentlemen, our winners from home!"

The doors opened to reveal two young men in their late twenties,

"Ivan and Samuel from Crediton!"

The two young men joined Lionel on the sofa. They were a gay couple from
Devon, who had been together for 6 years. Ivan said that he had called in
on a whim, they always watched The Challenge, but had never been in a
position to own a slave up until that week – they'd just bought their
first house and now had room for a slave.

"How do you plan to use your slave, then, boys?" Lionel asked,

"Well, Lionel," Ivan answered, "we're both very busy at work, so we could
really do with a slave to do the housework, the garden and everything else
we can't be bothered doing ourselves!"

"And do you lads have a preference for which of our lads you'd like to be
your new house slave?"

"Not really, Lionel," Samuel said, "Ivan has a soft spot for Luis, whereas
I think Scott looks the most likely candidate."

"Ah, poor Pete, if he were to be our loser today, does that mean you'll be
taking a trip down to Smith and Jones to trade him in?" Lionel winked at
the audience as he asked the question.

"Oh no, we'd be just as happy with him, wouldn't we, Samuel?"

"Definitely, it's not that we don't like him – I'm sure he'd look just
as good scrubbing our floors."

"How do you plan to uniform your new slave, then, boys?"

"As soon as we discovered we'd won, we spoke to a few friends who either
own slaves themselves, and Samuel spoke to the HR department at his work
where they have loads of slaves employed as cleaners and the like. Everyone
said that it was easier, cheaper and more suitable for the slave if we just
keep him naked."

"Yes," Samuel agreed, "My mate in HR said that for no other reason, keeping
the slave naked is one of the best ways to remind him of his proper place –
even in slave uniforms he reckons, slaves can forget their place. But free
people would never walk around naked all the time, so the slave remembers
what he is"

"Quite right," Lionel agreed, "The best uniform for a slave, in my opinion,
is no uniform. And do you plan on disciplining your slave?"

"All slaves need discipline," Ivan said, "That's clear from everything
we've seen. Let's face it, we've all seen slaves with bright red bottoms –
it's almost part of the uniform!"

"That sounds great, doesn't it, lads?" Lionel said, turning to the three
lads still standing on their podiums, "One of you is soon going to be
stripped off and sore!"

He turned back to the camera,

"And, ladies and gentlemen here in the studio and all of you at home, we'll
be finding out who that is going to be right after this next ad break." He
turned back to Ivan and Samuel, "Boys, will you spank your slave here on
this sofa for us before you take him home?"

The two winners looked at each other, and big smiles broke out on both
their faces,

"We'd be only too happy to do, so Lionel!" Ivan chuckled.

And on that, the ads came back on. More ordinary ads this time, for soap
powder, oven chips and the latest American blockbuster film. The producers
charged the most for these ads of any on English TV – more people tuned
in to see who would be enslaved than watched the top-rated soap and that
made these ads the most valuable on TV every week.

After 3 minutes of banality, "The Challenge" returned, with a shot of the
three lads, still on their podiums. And Lionel Peel saying,

"In just 5 minutes or so, one of these lads will be a millionaire. One will
be appreciably wealthier than he is now. And one will be officially
enslaved and the property of our lucky winners from home!"

The camera turned to show Lionel sitting at the desk where he always
announced the results, to one side of the podiums.

"Just in case you're a new viewer, this is what will happen next. I will
press this button," gesturing to a green button on his right on the desk,
"and the podiums on which our lads are standing will move and one will stop
on the floor. That will be this week's winner. I'll announce the proportion
of the vote he received and his prize money, and present the cheque. Then
the marshall will enter with the enslavement contract – sadly, you won't
be able to see it, but I will. It will have been already notarised,
enslaving our loser for ten years and formally contracting him to ownership
by our winners from home. All that will be needed is my signature on the
bottom and that lad will be legally a slave. I will then press this
button," and he gestured to a red button on the left arm of the desk, "and
the remaining podiums will move again. This time, whichever podium ends up
on the floor will contain our new slave. I will formally announce the
slavery contract, and then, well, and then you'll see...!" Lionel winked
again and smiled broadly.

"Well, there's no time like the present. So here goes!"

Lionel leant forward and pressed the green button. The podiums moved up and
down, the audience gasped at one point when Scott's podium touched the
floor, but it rose up again. After a few moments of slow movement of
podiums and lads, there was a blackout, a klaxon sounded, the lights came
back on and Luis' podium was on the floor, with Scott and Pete back at the
level they'd started at.

The audience went wild and, for the first time in weeks, Luis smiled
broadly.

"We have a winner, folks!" Lionel called over the applause, "With 38% of
these week's vote, our winner is Luis!! Come over here, Luis," and he
pointed to a chair the far side of the desk from the podiums."

Looking more relieved than it seemed possible for someone to be, Luis
walked slowly over to the chair, sweat glistening on his brow.

Lionel announced that they had received 22, 457,351 calls that week
overall, meaning that Luis was now £22,457,351 better off. A huge sum of
money, as Lionel pointed out. And, looking at the two lads left, let them
know that one of them would soon be almost a quarter of a million pounds
better off, whilst the other would be a slave.

Lionel handed Luis a cheque and chatted to him for a few minutes about what
he was going to spend his money on, before talking again to Ivan and
Samuel. Ivan admitted to being disappointed that Luis had won, but that
either of the two remaining lads would make a great slave.

"We're about to find out who that will be. Marshall, the documents?"

A tall, handsome, well-built man in uniform came through the doors,
carrying a document folder and a pen. He walked over to the desk put them
down in front of Lionel. Opening the folder, Lionel read the paper inside,
smiled, clicked the pen and signed it with a flourish.

"Our loser is now legally a slave. It is time we discovered which of our
remaining lads that is, and which of them is our runner-up for whom I have
here a nice fat cheque!" And so saying, he pressed the green button.

The lights dimmed until only two spotlights appeared on Scott and Pete. The
podiums started moving and there was silence in the studio until, as
before, a sudden blackout and a klaxon. A flash of pyrotechnics and through
the darkness came Lionel's voice:

"And this week's loser, with only 29% of the public vote and 75 points
overall, is SCOTT!"

As always, the audience was silent for a moment, before catcalls and
whistling broke out. The camera was in full close up on Scott's stricken
face, as a spotlight snapped onto him. The lights came back on, revealing
Scott's podium on the floor and the Marshall behind him. The Marshall took
tight hold with one hand of the back of Scott's jacket, and with the other
hand, the back of Scott's trousers. He pulled, and the specially made suit
ripped down the front and, before Scott could react, he was standing naked
apart from a pair of black socks and shiny black shoes. In one swift move,
the Marshall Pulled Scott's hands behind his back before he could cover
himself...