Ringmaster Ch. 01: Introduction

It was just an ordinary ring. It didn't even look like it was that valuable. It was just an ordinary silver ring that I had picked up along the side of the sidewalk. I only really picked it up because it was shiny and it looked like I might have been able to pawn it for a quick buck if I needed it. If it wasn't for the glint into my eyes, I would have never even found it. However, there was something about it that just seemed to call to me.

I looked it over again, holding it up to the light of my apartment. There weren't even any engravings or markings anywhere on it. In fact, it just looked like someone welded a piece of metal together into the shape of a ring. Still though, it looked about my size.

I sat up and chuckled to myself at how ridiculous that would be if it was made specifically for me. Still, I found myself slowly putting the ring on. Despite looking too small, it seemed to fit easily onto my finger. It didn't look too bad on me, though I usually never wore rings. They just seemed to get in the way. As I went to take the ring off, something strange happened.

The ring wouldn't budge, and it felt warm. I tried pulling harder, but the ring only seemed to get tighter on my finger and warmer until it became hot to touch. "Oww, fuck!" Quickly, I ran over to the kitchen sink and ran water over my hand, managing to dull the pain. After a few minutes, the warmth subsided, but the ring was stuck on my finger. I cursed to myself and stared down at it. "Guess I have to go get some ring remover."

"Yo, nice place you got here."

I froze in place as an unfamiliar voice began to talk to me. Slowly, I turned around and looked, seeing a barely dressed white-haired woman standing in my living room, which chains wrapped tightly around her body. She looked around my apartment before turning her head to me. "Ah, so you're the new Ringleader." She cleared her throat before pulling out a small stack of index cards from between her tits. "Greetings new Ringleader, that's you." She spoke with the enthusiasm of a college student giving a presentation in a 7 AM Monday morning class. I wasn't quite sure what was more stunning. Having this woman here in my apartment, or that she was reading from cue cards. "My name is Regina. You can call me Regina, or Ring Slut, or Ring Bitch, or whatever suits your fancy." She flipped to the next card. "You are now the owner of the Reality Ring. Use this to shape the realities of whatever or whoever women suit your fancy." She flipped to the next card.

"This Ring allows you to change the bodies or the minds of any woman you want with just a simple thought. You can even make them unaware of any changes. Give them commands they must follow or program them to do your bidding. The sky is the limit. Make them sex slaves, dominate your enemies, shape their reality as you see fit. Be sure to flourish. Everything is up to you, so go wild Ringmaster, point to the wearer of the ring." She flipped over to her last card. "Also, a side effect of this ring is that the Ringmaster, that's you, will develop a strong carnal lust for women, even if you previously had no attraction towards them. This is non-negotiable and has already begun to take place within you." She tossed her last card and looked at me. "So, time to learn about my new Ringmaster. that's you. Tell me about yourself. Who are you?"

"Uh, my name is Maria," I said, staring at Regina, then staring down at the ring I had put on. Sure, the warmth was out of the ordinary, but the ability to control women? That was just absurd. It went against everything that my scientific brain stood for. And yet, there was this woman who just suddenly appeared in my apartment. She just kinda looked at me with a bored expression.

"So, you're Maria?" she asked, scratching the back of her head and rattling her chains. "Cool, so, yeah, you're the new Ringmaster. Guess we'll have fun or something."

I just kept staring at the ring, trying to process everything. Frantically, I tried to pull the ring off. This had to be a dream or something. There wasn't any way that this was real. "Come on! I'm sure if I get this off, then all of this will go away, and I'll wake up and this was some weird fever dream." I pulled and tugged, but the ring wouldn't budge.

"Yeah, I wouldn't do that," Regina said. "The ring's magic doesn't quite like being removed forcefully. Unless you want these walls a new shade of red."

Quickly, I let go and stared down at the ring. It felt gently warm as I could feel energy hum through it. "So, this is real? This is all real? All of it?" Regina nodded her head as she took a seat on my couch, her tits softly bouncing.

Wait, why was I focused on her tits? It's not like girls or anything. I mean, she is cute, but what is wrong with me. I took a seat down next to Regina and tried to calm down. This can't be happening to me. No, this is all absurd. There's no way that this is happening to me. "WAIT! I know!" I quickly stood up, but then sat right back down. "Ugh, I thought Vanessa, my roommate, would be back soon and help me sort this entire mess out, but she won't be back until later. I wish I could hear her talk me through this."

As if on cue, I felt the ring warm up and my phone rang. I refused to believe it, but as I looked over, I saw Vanessa's name appear on my phone. Nervously, I picked it up.

"Hey Maria!"

"Hey gorgeous, what's up?" I asked before quickly covering my mouth. What the hell was that? Why did I just call her gorgeous? I've never called anybody that that directly, much less my own roommate.

"Oh, not much," Vanessa responded, seemingly to not have reacted to the compliment. "I'm just soon home and was wondering if you wanted me to pick up any snacks or anything." She had a warm bubbly tone to her voice, like she always did.

I took a sigh of relief. It hadn't been the ring that made Vanessa call me. It was just a pure coincidence that it happened at the same time that I had thought about it, right? "Oh, uh, yeah, just pick up some chips and stuff. I'll pay you back later."

"Sounds good! See you in a bit." With a soft click, Vanessa hung up.

I flopped down onto her couch and sighed. I stared at the ring and the warm glow that seemed to emanate from it. I groaned and covered up my face with a pillow. "Why did I call her gorgeous? I mean, yeah, sure, she is really beautiful, but I mean, come on. What is up with me?"

Secretly, I always was jealous of her. While I studied hard and spent countless sleepless nights to try and get myself a solid degree in filmmaking, Vanessa only had to rely on her good looks and cheer attitude. Such is the way when you go to school for cheerleading and have a job as a fashion model. Honestly, the two of us found each other because she needed someone to help film a cheer video for her and I was the best in the student body who applied. Ever since then, we've been pretty good friends and roommates the semester following. We get along well, but I've never once thought about her like this.

I spent a few more minutes hiding in my pillow, only to hear the rattling of chains. "Not sure what you're so stressed about, Ringmaster. That short conversation seemed to go well," Regina said, walking over to a shelf and looking at a photo of me and Vanessa.

"You don't get it. Sure, I've complimented her about her looks and stuff, but never once have I ever really thought about her like that!"

"Oh, like what?" Regina said, twisting her torso to me unnaturally.

"Like, like..." I stammered, feeling my face turning redder, "Like in a more attractive way."

"Oh, yeah, the ring kinda does that," Regina said, setting down the photo. "Nothing you can do about it, so just go wild with the ride."

I was about to complain more, but then I heard the door unlock. Stepping through the door was Vanessa, wearing a slimming white tube top and a knee-length black pencil skirt. Her clothes only enhanced her already tan Greek skin, which complimented her wavy brown hair. Her 36C cups bouncing as she walked in, only emphasized by her tight shirt. She took off her high heels at the door and walked to the kitchen, setting down the plastic bags she was holding.

"No, bad Maria! Stop staring at her tits!" I cursed to myself under my breath, even if they were very nice.

"Ya! Maria!" Vanessa called out to me from the kitchen. "They were having a huge sale chips and snacks." I could hear the rustling of various bags. "I was thinking tonight, we just aragma and binge something. I kept hearing about this new series abou-" Vanessa stopped mid-sentence as she walked into the living room. "Maria, who is this?" She pointed over to Regina.

"Fuck," I said under my breath. It hadn't even occurred to me that Regina was actually there. Part of me thought she was just a figment or a being only existing to me through the ring. Another part of me thought she was just some hallucination. Guess I should have figured something was up when I saw her pick up a photo.

"Uh, Vanessa, this is...This is Regina, our new, uh, roommate," I said nervously, hoping that Vanessa would buy it. I didn't even notice the ring gently warm up on my finger.

Almost instantly, Vanessa perked up and became more relaxed. She smiled and walked over to Regina, shaking her hand. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Regina. Glad you'll be rooming with us." I took another sigh of relief. "Wait, hang on. This is a two bedroom apartment. Where's she sleeping?"

"Oh, uh," I said, nervously looking at Regina, giving her a look like "Help me out here."

"Oh," Regina said, getting the hint and turning to Vanessa, "I'll be sleeping in Maria's room."

NOT WHAT I MEANT! I thought to myself as I shot Regina a look of WTF. I turned back to Vanessa, hoping that she'd just accept and go along with it. This time, I felt the ring warm up.

"Huh, well then, sounds good to me," Vanessa said as she headed to her room, hips swaying. "Good thing there was a huge sale! What kind of chips do you like, Regina?"

"Ah, I'll take whatever," Regina said before turning to me. She gave me a small thumbs up. "Well done, Ringmaster. Excellent wielding."

"What are you talking about?" I asked in a hushed tone. "Wait, you mean I caused her to just accept what I said?"

Regina gave a nonchalant nod. "Yeah. I told you, just a thought and you shape the minds of women."

"But I don't want to force anyone into doing anything," I said, looking at the ring again and making sure that I wasn't accidentally activating it.

"Yeah, that kind of moral hang up," Regina said in her oddly charming non-caring way, "That'll probably lessen over time. You know what they say, power corrupts and all that." She gave a shrug, which rattled her chains and jiggled her tits.

"I don't want to be corrupted." At this point, I was practically begging Regina. I was already feeling guilty about staring at Vanessa's toned ass. I didn't want to corrupt or force her to do anything. She was my friend after all.

Regina stared at me and gave me a gentle smile. She patted my head softly and looked into my eyes. It was only up close that I realized how gorgeous her hazel eyes were. "Maria, you aren't like other Ringmasters that have worn the ring. I can tell you have a more pure heart. If you're that worried, then don't go crazy with what you change." She gave my nose a gentle boop. "The ring only made you more attracted to women, but anything you do and act on, that's all you. You're still pretty much the same you as before."

I don't know why, but there was something reassuring about Regina's words. Maybe it was the message behind it that I didn't need to worry about it changing me too badly. Or maybe it was her calm and beautiful eyes staring into me. Either way, I relax and felt a bit more at peace. After all, I was just checking out Regina and Vanessa, both of whom were incredibly hot. There wasn't anything wrong with that, and the only changes I made to Vanessa was just so I had a cover story for Regina. It's not like I was any different. I'm still the same Maria I was this morning. Yeah, I'm in control of myself. I got this.

"Oh, hey, did you borrow my brush? Was gonna get a shower quick." Vanessa asked, walking out of her room wearing nothing but a towel around her that barely covered up her crotch and pushed her tits together into a deep tan valley of cleavage. I felt my heart beat faster as I stared at her.

Oh fuck.