Midday Challenge (TG)
By ThatGuy
These kinds of bets were strange, but seemed to be getting more and more popular by the day. And among his classmates Chester was the guy to see about making them happen. He was a rogue, mischievous and handsome - and more importantly, he had contacts with people who could get their hands on some powerful stuff very cheap. Stuff like the vials he held in his hands.
This wasn’t first time he had provided for a challenge like this, but it was the first time he had been the one to carry it out. Usually people did this with the whole class watching, as long as no one who cared about the rules was around, but these two didn’t want anyone to know until after one of them had claimed victory. It was a private duel. He knew both of them pretty well, and he never thought they were enemies. He didn’t know how this fight got started at all, but it wasn’t his problem.
“Alright guys, you both know the challenge,” he said, eyeing first one then the other. “You have to drink the whole thing. First one to resist all the way and throw off the changes gets the other this Friday. Dinner, movie, whatever comes after. Go nuts.”
No objections, since they knew the rules already. The one on the left side, Lysander, grabbed his vial first. He was a smallish sort of guy with coarse brown hair and thick glasses. He was slightly more built than anyone would assume with his loose shirt and baggy jeans, and especially with slight frame even and lonesome extracurricular lifestyle. He still had that unshakeable “nerd” reputation no matter what, but he also was never one to back down.
He carefully inspected the vial in his hands, and turned to his opponent: tall, incredibly fit and blonde with a permanent smug expression on his face. His hair was always perfectly coiffed, to fit his designer polos and blue blood. Alto stared back at him, and casually swiped his vial as well.
“You should just give up now,” Lysander shot first, glaring defiantly. He tended to glare a lot. “This is going to take a focused mind, and I’ve seen your test scores.”
“Really?” Alto smirked back. “Cause I think you’d be better off letting it be. You’ll definitely be more popular.”
Lysander scowled at the shot, and the two locked eyes for long time. Chester wished he had popcorn. The challenge was set.
“Alright, alright. Let’s get to it already,” Chester said. He took his phone out of his pocket and aimed it at the two. “As per your bet, I’m going to watch you take this and record the results. No matter what, everyone is going to see what happens.”
“You mean see me win?” Alto laughed. “Can’t wait to show you off!”
Lysander rolled his eyes. “Don’t get cocky. Or is that your default emotion?” He sneered. “Not for long…”
Chester lifted his arm with an official air, as if this wasn’t just a random bet, and the two raised their vials. Then he dropped it again with a sharp “go!” and the two downed their drinks at the same time.
There was a second where the two just kept sizing each other up, each daring the other to give up first. And then it started. They both jerked, and before Chester's eyes even Lysander started to shrink. This was typical, and it wasn’t just height. They were slimming, only slightly for now and especially around their waists. They were both shocked, for once on the same page. Chester chuckled. Nobody ever expected how fast it started working.
Suddenly Lysander gasped loudly. He shuddered as he suddenly felt something push against his jeans from the inside. He gave out a whine and grabbed his behind. It felt softer even though his jeans, and big, at least in comparison to how flat he used to be. He looked up, stunned, and saw to his dismay that Alto and Chester were also staring at it. In retrospect, it was obvious what squeezing his behind in public would draw attention to, especially during a challenge like this.
Alto was way more pleased than Lysander was comfortable with. He really didn’t want to see the day a look like that was welcomed. He dropped his arm right away, but it wasn’t fast enough to stop Alto from craning his neck to get a better look. “Nice butt, ‘Lizzy!’”
“He’s not lying,” Chester said, as he zoomed the camera in for a second.
Lysander stewed in annoyance and embarrassment, then stopped and gave Alto a laugh of his own. “I could say the same thing about you.” Lysander glanced downward, and Alto flushed.
Unlike what the words implied, Alto’s behind hadn’t quite rounded in out the same way - at least not yet. His hips were still shifting around, but it was his legs that really stood out. Alto had decided to come to this challenge in shorts, which was either a daring move or a stupid one. Everything below them was looking sharp. Prominent calves, stockier thighs, and he stumbled self-consciously on feet that were now too small for his custom made shoes. The word “shapely” was starting to come to mind.
In short, both of them were starting to look much less like the guys they were. “I think I’ll call you… Aria,” Lysander continued taunting him, though he also twisted slightly to keep eyes of what was behind him. “It keeps the theme. Alto. Aria. You get it.”
“Ugh, music nerds…” Alto groaned, though he shifted uncomfortably on his unfamiliar feet. “At least I went with something cute.”
Lysander pulled a disgusted look. “You think Liz is cute? You wouldn’t know cute if it slapped you in the face.”
“Well I’m about to! Though I hope you won’t slap me.”
Chester cleared his throat, and they stopped their banter to glare at him instead. “You guys do know you won’t be naming each other or anything, right?” They kept staring, so he shrugged. “That’d be stupid. It’s… I dunno, automatic or something. Like subconscious.”
They both huffed, and a “would you butt out?” came from the left.
Alto turned back to Lysander. “Ironic, you talking about butts.”
Lysander turned back to Alto. “Listen you-”
Suddenly they both stopped again, then together doubled over and let out some very un-manly squeaks. Their hands flew under their pants - now slightly looser - and those squeaks became gasps when they failed to find what they were searching for. They looked back up, both a lot less confident with their dick measuring contest now that it had lost the most macho part of its name.
They eyed each other up and down, as if seeing in a new light. It seemed they failed to notice a few more changes which were only getting more obvious, though Chester of course had gotten the whole thing. Lysander’s hair now framed his face with a surprising number of curls, while Alto’s was not only far too long but seemed to be braiding itself. Their faces were different, their eyes changing color, and even Lysander’s glasses seemed to be smaller and more compact.
But all of that was just ignoring the elephants in the room, or the ones pushing out their tops. This was his first time seeing it up close, but this was already Chester’s favorite part: they both numbly raised their hands to their chests, gaping at each other’s newfound busts while weighing their own in disbelief. Guys their age were no stranger to admiring girls’ bodies, but never their own! While neither could be called excessively busty (there were other vials for that), even what they had still felt massive to them.
They both tensed. They knew what was coming now. It was the moment of truth. First came the physical changes, and now that those were done the stuff's infamously powerful mental changes would be soon to follow. Chester leaned in to get a better shot. This was where the challenge really began: whoever could best resist having their mind remodeled was going to be the winner, and neither wanted to lose.
In order to keep himself focused, and because he again realized what his groping must look like, Lysander put his hands away first. On the other hand, Alto kept squeezing his chest a little longer than really necessary. “Holy crap…” He said with a slack jawed chuckle.
Lysander glared again. “Are… are you serious?” He groaned.
Alto smirked, though it was a bit less smug a smile than before. “What, you’d rather I do yours?”
Lysander scoffed and shyly covered his chest, blushing furiously, but was swept up in a whirlwind before he could insult back. In comparison to their selves, their clothes changed so quickly it nearly knocked them over (neither one could guess how something they drank to affect their clothing). Suddenly Alto was stumbling around in heels instead of too-big shoes, and that was just the start of it!
When it was all done, Chester looked them over and let loose a crooked grin. This was what he lived for! “Whoa, you guys really are pretty cute now.” He said to their groans and chagrin, and he panned the phone left to right to give the future audience a good look.
On the left Lysander found himself in pink sandals, his pants replaced by a jean skirt and jacket. Despite his earlier care, his hands went right back to his chest to try and figure out how his new bust ended up slipped into a crop top (too big to be risqué, but still shocking), with “Bach to Bach” printed on the chest. His hair was done in curls, topped with a pink beret. At the right, Alto’s shorts had ironically become a long dress that fused with his polo, and the hint of black nylon beneath. His hair fell past his waist in a long, thick braid.
In short, there was undeniably a pair pretty girls standing there. Neither could reasonably be called boys any more. And they were reduced to goggling at each other because of it.
Alto was the first to remember what they were doing. “S-so! Want to give up? I think that look suits you.” She said with a false bravado, while mentally she kept repeating “My name is Alto! I can do this!” in her head, over and over. This was it, and she had to win!
“P-please!” Lysander said stubbornly. She was glaring even harder thanks to all the focus, and she didn’t plan to lose either. “Me? As if I could pull off a dress that well.”
“Oooh, shots fired… I guess,” Chester added. It wasn’t as thought they could stop him from goading them on, in fact it was part of the “fun.” “But a nice compliment, Lysander! You sure you don’t really want that dress for yourself?”
Lysander whirled on him, scandalized. “You keep out of this!” She shrieked. Alto snickered at the overly defensive reaction, but that just made her the next target. “And you shut up! I’m still more man than you are, and I plan to stay that way!”
Alto sneered. “You sure about that? You were barely a man before, and I stand by what I said about you looking better this way!” She pointed mockingly at Lysander, hand on swayed hips in a pose that she didn’t seem to realize was obviously more feminine. “Face it, honey. You are such a girl!”
“You’re the girl, girl!” Lysander whined back. “Why else do you think the stuff dressed you like that!” She laughed nastily, gesturing at Alto’s long dress and prominent heels, on which she was no longer stumbling.
Feeling more insulted than perhaps she meant to, Alto pompously drew the hem around herself. “I’ll have you know nobody dresses me but me! You just can't tell because you're a...” she blinked, realizing that something was off. “Wait… that’s not right.”
This was the way in Lysander was waiting for. “Ha! You’re losing it already!” She said right in Alto’s haughty face.
“Am not!”
“You are, too!" She pressed. "Do you even remember your name?”
“Of course! it’s… Al…” It should have been easy to say “Alto,” since she had been repeating it over and over in her head. But now, that all seemed like gibberish. “Oll… Olli… no, wait…”
Lysander moved in for the kill now. Her smile was looking almost evil, as she smacked her opponent hard in the boobs. “And really think you’re more man than me?
“Hey!” The other girl slapped her back. “Do I look like a man to you? God, you’re such a bitch sometimes!”
Though her hand smarted from where she got slapped, Lysander took it with a smile. She was now assured of her victory, and her opponent had no idea how badly she had lost! “Well, there you go. I win.” She said, as the other girl looked at her with confused eyes. Lysander turned away from her and smugly sauntered over to where Chester was still recording, skirt swaying with her victory dancing steps. Chester had to hand it to her, that was a clever finish. Or so it seemed. “You can give me the antidote to the… er… thing, now.” She demanded, slurring her words for only a second. “I have reservations to make.”
Chester raised an eyebrow. She wasn’t the only one who could take advantage of an opportunity, and he had a feeling… “Dinner reservations?”
“Yes? Of course!” She said testily. “With my… uh…” She blinked. It was odd, but she couldn’t quite recall who she was supposed to meet with. She knew it was very important, some kind of date, but… no, she was getting distracted! “Look, I just need to hurry! Give me the antidote!”
Chester shook his head. “Nope. Don’t think so.”
“What?!” She hissed, getting up in his face so much her hair tickled his nose. “Why not? I won! See?” She pointed to the girl who would have been Alto, who had lost interest in the challenge and was now inspecting her makeup in a hand mirror. “She’s clearly long gone, so I’m the last woman standing.”
He didn't bother to point out how that title worked against her. “Yes, but the stakes of your challenge were that the first one to throw off the changes would get the antidote. Not the last one to lose.”
“Which I did, obviously!” She bellowed in his face.
Chester smirked. Again, she wasn’t the only one who could ask the tough questions. “Oh, really? Then what’s your name?”
Her nose wrinkled in frustration, which Chester couldn’t help but notice. She didn’t wear makeup like some girls he could mention, but she was still very cute. “That’s easy it’s Ly… Li…” Her eyes went wide. “Oh. Oh, no…”
“Ouch,” he winced for her. “Doesn’t look good.”
“No, no, no!” She stammered over and over. She smacked herself in the face to try and jog her sense of focus, and then again, but it only managed to make it look like she was panicking. Which she was. “No, I’ve got this. I do! It’s Li… Li… Licenza!” She spat out after a turn. “That it!" She sighed in relief. "Of course it is, I know my own name! Duh!”
She said this proudly, perfectly unaware of how wrong she was. As she put on an air of self-importance, like someone who always knew something everyone else did not, Chester noticed that there was none of that competitive understanding in her eyes any more. She no longer remembered who she was either. “And I just love my name, it’s so clever!” She said matter of factly. “See it’s taken from an opera t-“
“We know, we know,” the other girl interrupted. She finally seemed to be invested in the conversation again, and walked over so she too was standing right in front of Chester. She winked at the camera through freshly applied eyeshadow, and he responded with a playful pan from her hair down to the hint of nylon under her dress. “Enough with the music history!” She said.
“Oh, back off! I’m talking to Chester!” She - License, now - scowled. “Don’t start with me now, Otilia!”
“God, do we always have to fight?” Otilia, it seemed her name was, groaned and put her hands up in defeat. “Look, I’m sorry I made fun of the way you look. You really pull off that look, girl!”
Licenza stopped, surprised, and poked self-consciously around her skirt, as if judging whether her rival’s apology had merit. Her hand found her waist at her bare navel, and she smiled - deciding she could trust her. “Thanks, I guess. And I’m sorry I made fun of your dress. I really do like it.”
“You just have to know the right people, hun!” Otilia crowed, as Alto's haughty expression returned to her new face. “I’ll hook you up, just let me check my address book…”
As the two continued to make up with each other, Chester quietly excused himself and rushed a short ways away. It never ceased to amaze him just how thoroughly the stuff could change people. If he hadn't recorded it, no one would ever think Lysander and Otilia had ever existed where Licenza and Otilia now stood - the girls acted as if they had been there all along. This was far from the first time he had heard of a challenge like this going south for everyone involved, and in fact he was kind of hoping it would end this way. If one pretty girl was good, two was always better.
Though he supposed he was just lucky he hadn’t somehow ended up in the crossfire too. He patted the pocket with the antidote in it, just in case…
“And I guess that’s that! Game over!” Chester said into the camera, closing out the show. Everyone they knew was going to see this, that was also part of the “fun.” There were going to have a lot of fun getting to know the two new girls in class, some more than others. “You guys will probably have met Licenza and Otilla by the time you see this, but I hope you like them as much in person as I do!”
He gave the camera one last roguish grin, then turned off the recording and pocketed his phone. The girls were still talking, so he waved the them over. “Hey, ladies!”
“Chester!” Licenza jumped around and trotted over to him, the other just behind her. When she saw him stowing his phone, she groaned. “Oh, no. I almost forgot about the… uh... thing we were doing. So, how did we do?”
He shrugged. There was no point in lying now. The damage was already done. “Well, you both lost, so…”
“I can’t believe it!” Otilia frowned, with the air of someone unused to losing anything - something shared from who she was before to who she was now. “But… er… darn it all, how we competing again?” She looked over to the other girl for an answer. "I think it slipped my mind."
Licenza thought it over for a minute, then with a sort of confused daze could only shrug. The effects of the vial were very thorough, especially in the concentration they just gobbled down. Not only did they not remember Alto and Lysander, the two weren’t likely to recall much about how they came to exist any time soon. “You know, it’s so stupid but I can’t remember either!” She sighed, annoyed at herself for losing information. Another thing that carried over. It seemed like both Lysander and Licenza hated to be caught out of focus.
“It doesn’t matter,” Chester said, to keep their minds off of what could easily become a very odd and awkward conversation. “It’s over and done with, right? No need to worry.”
“I guess so.” Otilia replied, though she sounded disappointed. However, that disappointment didn’t stop her from surprising Chester with a sudden desiring look, or from suddenly slipping her arm around his. “So then, walk us home? It’s only fair,” She said, softly clasping his hand with her slender fingers. Chester's heart rate went skyrocketing.
Licenza was not impressed by this display. “Ugh, terrible!” She grunted, and annoyed she pushed into Chester’s other side. “That’s so old fashioned, Otilia! You should be ashamed!” She protested, but she too linked her arm with Chester's remaining one.
With a girl on each arm and a whole afternoon until he had to get back, Chester grinned thinking about the antidote in his pocket. Technically since neither of them won, he really didn’t need to give it to either of them. At least not for a while. And if he remembered correctly, this challenge was supposed to end with dinner, a movie and anything else their eager young hearts could think of. Which definitely accounted for the girls’ immediate shine to him.
They were literally made to enjoy a little romance, and surely there was no need to break their hearts for something as simple as a draw…
“It’s my pleasure. So girls, you both doing anything Friday night?”