Interactive Story - The Humiliation Games - Part 13 (Patreon)

“Well there we have it, gentlemen, proof that at The Humiliation Games no good deed ever goes unpunished!” Esteban called out over the slowly dying applause as the latest humiliation concluded. “And with three volunteers per team suitably humiliated, that brings us to the halfway point of this year’s games!”

There was a collective groan from the audience.

“But fear not, lovely perverts, that still means we have six wonderful new volunteers lined up for the second half, which begins right after a brief break!” Esteban explained.

Instantly, The Terror vanished from his throne as Esteban bowed to the crowd, making it clear he was there for one purpose only, to spectate the games.

As the audience quickly dispersed to enjoy the brief interlude, the two teams on stage mingled together, aside from Dave who made a similar sudden exit to The Terror, though his disappearance happened when nobody was looking, as always.

“Nice humiliation,” Zorren said with a smirk to the demon who had just instigated the most recent spectacle. “Classic Buth!”

“I’m going to assume that’s a compliment!” Buth’Taloz said with a wry grin.

“That it was,” Zorren replied with a low chuckle.

“Perhaps we’ll see one of your classics in the second half,” Buth’Taloz replied. “Show these first timers how it’s done!” he said, nodding to Zorren’s teammates – Tharukan who had now inflicted two humiliations and Gokothon who had inflicted one.

“Or perhaps not,” Zorren said with an indifferent shrug. “Perhaps my best humiliation days are behind me!” he suggested matter-of-factly.

“Nah, you’ve got at least another century in you yet!” Buth’Taloz replied, waving his hand dismissively.

“Oh, Terror forbid. I hope to be retired to a terrifying little hell-hole LONG before that!” Zorren replied with a headshake. “It may indeed be time for these young demons to take the reins. Did you hear there’s a member of the Sinisterium who specialises in social media influencers… I don’t even know what they are!”

“Think of them as halfway between a human and a demon, but with none of the charm and even less of the talent!” Buth’Taloz replied, only half-joking.

“I’ll have to take your word for it!” Zorren said back with another headshake.

Across the stage, the two humans had moved together as the other three demons had begun to talk business. “A strong first half, Sebastian,” Ezekiel said confidently.

“Why, thank you Ezekiel,” Sebastian replied.

Ezekiel smirked as he quickly retorted, “Oh I didn’t mean you!” As the other man seemed somewhat unfazed by the insult, Ezekiel went on, “The teacher thing… absolute wasted potential and a celebrity that you didn’t humiliate in public? They’re not winning moves!”

Sebastian stared back for a few moments, blinking twice before answering airily, “As unbiased as I’m sure your opinions are, it’s not up to either of us to determine who wins. I just intend to keep getting the best from my team!”

“Ugh,” Ezekiel grunted, rolling his eyes. “You House Trauxity guys really are NO fun!”

“I believe I’m very fun!” Sebastian replied, then gave a sincere smile as he added, “But ‘fun’ is a subjective term and I can accept maybe our opinions aren’t aligned!”

“Ugh,” Ezekiel repeated with another eyeroll as the other man refused to rise to his goading. “Well whatever, I look forward to eventual loss and humiliation!”

“It’s wonderful to see you have such confidence in your team,” Sebastian replied. “Maybe I’ll go chat with them before we resume. Lovely as always chatting with you, Ezekiel!” He moved away, looking almost like he was floating as his robes swept along.

“I really hate those guys!” Ezekiel grumbled.

*****

“Welcome back, gentlemen. If you could all take your seats, we’ll be ready to be resume as soon as…” Ezekiel stopped as there was a flash and The Terror reappeared on his throne, “Well there we go, ready to resume now that the Master is back from the little Terrors’ room!”

There was a slight gasp from the crowd at the playful comment aimed at their terrifying host, but the fact Esteban hadn’t been incinerated on the spot made clear that he didn’t disapprove of the MC’s comment.

“So, round seven brings us back to Team Faularry. Let’s take a look at your next volunteer!” Esteban said, then gave a chuckle as he said, “I mean… victim… wait, I got it right the first time!”

As the audience laughed at the man’s obvious playfulness, the screen reappeared and the usual video feed and bio card popped up.

Volunteer Profile Ref HG242-07 Warren Prince

The video feed wasn’t particularly interesting, just a young man lounging around in what looked to be his home, casually scrolling away on his phone.

“Demons and gentlemen,” Esteban started, “Allow me to introduce to you Warren Prince. Warren is nineteen years old, originally from Surrey but moved to London in hopes of pursuing a modelling career. Many of you probably have the horrific and degrading stereotype in mind already of an air-headed, unintelligent living mannequin when I say model, but in this case… you would be absolutely right. When it comes to personality, Warren ranks somewhere between a toddler and a toaster!”

The crowd laughed at the casual insults.

“Warren is driven almost entirely by his desire to achieve fame and fortune through the two skills he has – standing still while looking pretty and… walking in a straight line while looking pretty. What can I say, he is NOT a complex fellow!” Esteban said, clearly amused by his own words as he sniggered. “I’d tell you more about him, but that genuinely does seem to be the extent of his existence, though that does mean whatever humiliation Team Faularry cooks up will almost certainly impact on the biggest aspect of his life, so… bad luck Warren, I guess.”

Another wicked laugh from the crowd.

“So begin the timer, Team Faularry, your five minutes starts now!” Esteban said as the timer appeared.

As usual the five minutes passed in a flash, with Team Faularry quietly conferring on their potential suggestions for the crowd while Team Trauxity discussed what they would do if Warren was their volunteer. As the timer reached zero, Esteban introduced Master Ezekiel who took centre stage.

“Well the second half is where we really get serious,” Master Ezekiel said confidently. “So leading with our last winner, please allow me to present Lord Gokothon, nightmare master!”

“This plebicile fears he will never see the great success he aims for in his chosen ‘career’. I plan to make that happen for him! Humiliation AND the destruction of a young human’s dreams… you’d be stupid to pass it up!” Gokothon explained arrogantly.

“Ahem, not that… Lord Gokothon is calling this… LOVELY audience stupid, of course!” Master Ezekiel said awkwardly. He wanted to admonish the demonic adviser for his poor choice of words, but knew to do so would put his life at risk. They may be on the same team, but Gokothon was still a dangerous figure. “But now, for your consideration, please give a round of applause to Lord Tharukan! Can he make it three humiliations for House Faularry?”

Tharukan took a gentle bow as the audience applauded. Waiting a moment for it to die down, he looked across the crowd for a moment then explained, “My proposal is to bring out the absolute worst in someone who will soon appear in Warren’s life. What may seem like his big break may in fact be his worst nightmare!” He turned to glance at Gokothon and smirked as he said, “Figuratively speaking, anyway!”

It got a laugh from the crowd and a slight sigh of relief from Master Ezekiel who felt the damage done by Gokothon had been somewhat mitigated. “Thank you, Lord Tharukan. An intriguing idea, for sure. And finally, I offer for your consideration, Lord Zorren!”

The elder demon was met with polite applause as he stood. “There will soon be an opportunity that presents itself. With just a slight nudge, a series of unlikely events will cause a chain reaction leaving Warren in a most humiliating public situation, one that will haunt him for many years to come!” he explained cryptically.

“Well, thank you Master Ezekiel and the Team Faularry advisers. Certainly sounds like the second half is off to a good start,” Esteban said as he prepared to open the vote. “So, gentlemen, what horrific fate awaits young Warren? Will it be Gokothon’s nightmare ruining Warren’s modelling career, Tharukan’s sinister new arrival in Warren’s life or Zorren’s series of unlikely events? Cast you vote now please!”