Ringmaster Ch. 16: Gaga for a Gala

With that, in one quick motion, she reached up and pulled a small match out of the crystal butterfly in her hair, striking it and then dropping it. Instantly, her cloak was engulfed in a brilliant flame, burning away the fabric in the blink of an eye.

Underneath, Vanessa had an elaborate black and blue outfit. Fabric wrapped around her neck like a choker, extending down to cover her breasts and leaving a large chest window that stretched all the way down to below her navel. Over her breasts was fabric that took the shape of blue flames. The outfit wrapped around the top of her thighs, then transitioned into an X pattern of fabric before becoming long leggings. The leggings were tucked into long stiletto boots with a resin heel that curled back into the shape of flames. On her arms were detached sleeves of a brilliant blue to white that went from just below her shoulders down to her wrists, once again keeping the fire motif. The two sleeves weren't connected to the main fabric, but connected at the back by two long and flowing strands of blue ribbon.

The crowd went absolutely nuts. Anne, Leon, Summer, and I cheered for Vanessa as loud as we possibly could, with Danna whistling alongside us. People were utterly frantic to get pictures of Vanessa as she confidently stared down Sherri.

"A stunning 98 out of 100!" The announcer shouted and the crowd went even more wild! "Ladies and Gentlemen, this competition is heating up! And now, it's time for the second part of our Fashion-Off! It's time for our models to show us how well they can walk the walk!"

The lights all shifted and turned towards the stage, which began to rippled and move. It almost looked as if it was made out of small cubes that began to rise and fall in different parts.

"Wait, what's going on?" I asked as I leaned in towards Leon.

"Oh yeah, this is your first time," Leon said as he redirected me back to the stage. "So, the catwalk is modular. This allows it to change shape and form. So, what's going to happen is-"

"Now then!" the announcer's voice rang, cutting off Leon. "The models will walk down our little obstacle course with raised and lowered parts, then make their way to the end where they'll add more obstacles to the catwalk, then walk back through it. The first one to falter loses this round!"

"So, yeah, basically that," Leon said, a little annoyed at having his thunder stolen. "I have confidence in Vanessa."

"I should," Summer said as she rested her fingers on her chin, "but those shoes of hers tell a different story. I just get a sense that those heels don't give the greatest support."

"Oh no," I said as I looked down at my hand. I gently rubbed the ring, but Danna once again put her hand on mine. She gave me a firm expression and I set my hand aside. "I believe in Vanessa as well."

"I believe in her too."

Suddenly, Regina popped up from behind me and Summer, putting her arms around us. If it hadn't been for Regina's voice, Summer probably would have thrown Regina flat onto her back because Summer was already reaching to toss her. She leaned in and gave Summer and I each a kiss on the cheek. "So, what did I miss?"

"You missed Vanessa's big reveal of her outfit," Summer said as Sherri began to take the stage and started her walk.

"Aww man. I bet it was awesome," Regina chuckled. She lowered her hands down to our hips.

"Where were you anyways?" I asked, keeping an eye on Sherri finishing up her walk and then it was Vanessa's turn. "Go Vanessa!" Vanessa turned and gave us all a smile and a wave before taking her turn, passing through all the obstacles with ease.

"Ugh, that photographer dude kept me back more," Regina said as she lowered her hand and squeezed Summer's ass. "But, I also helped Vanessa with her dress, so, win-win." I turned to give Regina a kiss on the cheek, but then noticed that her face and neck were basically covered in faint lipstick kisses, some of which was the same shade as Vanessa's lipstick.

"Uh huh, and that was the ONLY thing you were doing?" I said as I made sure to kiss one of Regina's kiss prints.

"Oh, come on, you know that it wasn't." Regina reached down and firmly gripped my ass as well. "So, how's our girl doing?"

I turned back to the stage where Vanessa was taking her turn. She was walking without any issues at all, making her way to the end of the stage.

"Way to go babe!" I shouted before quickly covering my mouth. I hadn't realized it but, this was really the first time I had called her anything romantic in public. But, the beating of my heart reassured me that it was right. I looked up and saw Vanessa smiling happily at me. I smiled back and shouted, "Go babe!"

Vanessa strutted her stuff down the obstacle course, though had a bit of a slower time. Sherri huffed and took her position and started to head down. Vanessa turned to the group and blew us all a kiss before waving to the crowd.

"She's absolutely amazing," Summer said as she reached down and held my hand. I blushed a little, then more as Regina got another squeeze of my ass.

"She is," I said as I watched the competition continue.

Sherri smirked at Vanessa as she walked back. "Good luck with this one."

Vanessa looked at the walkway, which had now another obstacle in the way. She started to make her way, but when she reached the new obstacle, she paused a little. She tried to look for an easy way around, but couldn't.

"Something the matter?" Sherri said with a snicker.

Vanessa glared at her, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She took a step forward, then her hands outstretched as she landed forward on her hands. The crowd gasped as camera shutters began to take pictures. Sherri laughed as Vanessa slowly got herself up. She brushed her outfit before gesturing over to Sherri, palm up.

"I'm woman enough to admit when I'm beat in a round! Round 2 goes to Sherri Wolf!" Vanessa shouted, the crowd cheering in approval of her humbleness. Sherri waved at the crowd, soaking up the praise.

I ran over to the stage as Vanessa got a little lower and down to reach me. "Hey Vanessa. It's alright. You still did good."

"Thanks. And hey, I still got one more challenge. I got this. After all, I am a cheerleader," she said, brimming with confidence. She pulled me in and gave me a passionate kiss on the lips. "But, some good luck helps." She smiled at me before taking her position at the center of the catwalk. I headed back over to the others.

"Alright folks, we're tied, so we're on our final challenge! Pose it or Lose it! The challenge is simple. Up on our screens, we'll have a model make various poses. All you have to do is match them and keep speed with her! The first model to fail to make the pose before she switches to a different one will lose!"

As the announcer said that, I felt this deep stirring sensation in my chest. It began there, then moved down my arm and to my hand, then the finger with the Reality Ring. I looked down at my hand as my arm began to shake. I could feel the energy beginning to course through me, even though I hadn't thought of any changes.

Then, I felt my fist ball up and I made a change.

I gritted my teeth as the magic coursed through my veins. It was taking all of my willpower not to scream at the top of my lungs. I had to remain composed and collected for everyone else. As I somewhat expected, however, only two people noticed that anything was amiss with me: Danna and Regina.

However, before Danna could do anything, Regina wrapped her arm around my neck. "Man, babe, you look kinda parched. Come on, let's get you something to drink at the bar." She turned to give Danna a glance and Danna seemed to relax a little.

"Really? You're going to miss one of the best parts," Leon said as he turned to us.

"Ah, we won't be long. Like we'd miss the show," Regina said as she started to guide me towards the bar area. I followed her after giving a quick glance on stage. Vaness and Sherri were both stretching and preparing for the final section of the competition.

Once we got to the bar, it was fairly empty since everyone was gathered to look at the show. Only Hal's husband was there, and he was on the other side cleaning glasses. Regina quickly sat me down and had a concerned stern look on her face. "What did I say about making reckless changes? You could have seriously hurt yourself!"

"I wasn't trying to!" I said before realizing just how loud I had said it before I lowered my voice. "I wasn't even making any change at all when the Ring suddenly started activating on me." I looked down at the ring, then back to Regina.

Her face changed from stern to just concern. She lifted up my hand and looked it over. "Well, there's no damage that I can see." She gently kissed my finger and ran it along her cheek. "Good, good."

"Do you have any idea what happened?" I asked, blushing a little at how soft her cheeks felt.

"What were you thinking about before it happened?" Regina asked.

I tried to think back to my own thoughts. "I don't really think I was thinking of anything. I was just watching the stage and it happened when the announcer was talking about the third stage."

"Hmm," Regina said as she looked at the ring again. "And you've been having plenty of sex, right?"

"I've been having sex nearly every day since I got the thing! I had sex with Vanessa twice already today, and you where there for the last one! How has that not been enough?"

"Okay, easy, I'm just making sure," Regina said as she leaned in and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "The Ring works off desire and pleasure, but also freedom and expression. It's like a building reservoir. You can feed it so it won't get hungry, sure, but if you don't use it, then it's gonna eventually overflow."

"What happens when it overflows?" I asked, looking and being reminded about the fact that on my finger is a mysterious magical artifact that can entirely rewrite the known universe.

"It latches onto any thoughts that you have that involve wants and desires. No matter how small or tiny, it grabs onto them and makes them happen."

"So, I have to both build up the ring AND use it? Why can't I just keep my life how it is?" I looked over to Summer, Danna, and Vanessa. "I have amazing girlfriends, I was already well off in life. There's nothing much that I really want to change."

"You don't need to rewrite the whole kitchen sink, Maria!" Regina said as she held up her fingers. "Just small changes every now and then. They don't have to be big. Otherwise, you're going to get changes that might end up big."

"Speaking of," I said, looking at the ring, "Do you know what change the ring made?"

"Let's see," Regina said as she closed her eyes. "It was some sort of replacement deal. Though, it wasn't anything quite present. Hmm... What was it..." I had no idea if she didn't know if she was just messing with me.

As she spoke, several screens descended down from the ceiling and displayed a sexy model on the screen. She was wearing a slimming latex two piece that had various straps on it. Her brunette hair was tied back in a ponytail and she had a fiery look on her face. Her long boots went up nearly to her knees and her fingerless gloves moved back into fishnets up her arm. There was no doubt about it in my mind at all. She absolutely looked out of place in a fashion show. In fact, she looked like...

"Did I replace the original model in this video with a stripper!?" I exclaimed as I looked at the ring and then to Regina.

"That's what it was," Regina said as she snapped her fingers.

"But, why was that such a big change then?" I asked.

"You're a film person. Think about it. Not only did you have to replace the woman in the film, but then the people filming it had to agree to use her, then film it, then get people to agree to it and show it. There's a lot of moving parts here," Regina said as she grabbed my wrist and pulled me back towards the stage. "Now come on! Don't you wanna see Vanessa up on stage?"

"I mean, of course!" I said as I stumbled along. I looked at the Ring again, the mysterious and powerful artifact that I had on my finger. A thought came to the surface; the thought that made the change.

Man, what if this model-off was a bit sexier?

With a simple whimsical thought, I had altered reality on a much larger scale than I thought. I needed to be careful. I needed to learn more about how to use this. I needed practice.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Let the Pose it or Lose it begin!"

"Oh good, we didn't miss anything," Regina said as she dragged me back into position next to Summer. She planted a kiss on Summer's cheek and then moved over next to Danna.

Vanessa and Sherri took their positions. Vanessa was facing towards us while Sherri had her back towards us, facing the other half of the crowd. The music began, some up-beat electro music that absolutely sent a groove through the crowd. Both Vanessa and Sherri were starting to move their body to the beat.

"Alright girls," said the woman on the screens as she raised her hands over her head. She put them behind her back, pushing out her tits. Vanessa and Sherri both did it, though Vanessa had a bit of an issue with her hair. "Let's get it started!"

Her hips began to shake left and right in rhythm to the music. Vanessa and Sherri both swayed in time with the beat, not missing a single motion. The crowd cheered as the two of them danced.

"Let's amp it up!" The stripper lifted her hands over and put them on her knees, bobbing her shoulders to shake her tits around. Vanessa did so, giving us a great view down her cleavage, while Sherri's position gave us a nice view of her ass. Of course I was rooting for Vanessa, but I couldn't deny how good Sherri looked.

"Go Vanessa!" I cheered and Summer and Danna clapped along in support. Regina whistled and cheered. Vanessa smiled wide as she looked over the crowd, resting her gaze on us.

"Alright, keep it going!" The stripper then put her hands on her hips and began to thrust in the air, which Vanessa and Sherri both followed. The crowd was absolutely loving it. Behind them, a thin pole rose out of the ground.

"Let's get advanced now!" The stripper grabbed onto the pole and began to spin around on it, one-handed, giving everyone a nice full view of both the front and the back. Vanessa easily managed to do so while Sherri barely managed to keep up.

"Falling behind already?" Vanessa asked with a confident look.

"Oh please, you wish," Sherri said, dismissing it.

The two of them followed some more simple poses, such as putting their hands between their legs and pushing their tits together, or twerking their ass cheeks for the crowd.

Watching Vanessa up there, I could feel myself getting wetter and wetter, watching just how hot she was. I still couldn't believe that I was dating a fashion model and a cheerleader in one package.

"Alright ladies, now let's go!" The stripper grabbed onto the pole and spun around, her legs in a near perfect split as she spun around the pole. Vanessa grabbed on and spread her legs nice and wide for everyone, with Sherri following shortly behind.

"Come on Vanessa! You got this!" Anne said as she cheered louder. "Show her what I taught you!"

The stripper moved to wrap her legs around the pole, holding on as she stretched back and air humped the pole. "Work that pole, girls!"

Sherri gripped on and stretched back, accentuating her tits in her silhouette against the lights. Vanessa, meanwhile, shimmed against the pole for a little extra titillation before stretching back. I could see that her breathing was getting more and more intense.

The crowd was going completely nuts. If this was happening somewhere else, I could assure you that money would be flying towards the stage.

"Now let's show a little goods, girls." The stripper leaned even further back from the pole. One of her hands rested on the ground while the other reached towards her stomach. She slowly pulled on her outfit, very nearly pulling her tits out, but not yet. Just enough to tease the audience. Then, after a few seconds of pause, flicked her wrist and her tits came right out, bouncing in their new freedom. "Don't tear your clothes now! A good model doesn't ruin her outfit."

"Are they actually gonna?" I asked, looking a little nervous and trying not to be too excited. On one hand, I was incredibly aroused watching Vanessa and seeing her tits just bounce like that would have sent me wild. On the other hand, there were hundreds of other people here taking videos and photos.

But, before I could think or react more, Vanessa and Sherri were already bending over and tugging on their outfits. With quick motions, their tits were out on display for everyone to see.

If any lights were on me, anyone could see that I was beet red in arousal and embarrassment.

"Don't worry," Summer said as she pulled me in close, "Vanessa is a professional, remember? Our professional." As she said that last bit, it was as if she was reassuring me that Vanessa was still our girlfriend at the end of the day. Others could look but we were the only ones who could touch.

"Now give them a good showing!" The stripper said. She held onto the pole with both hands as she let her legs spread open, spinning around upside down on the pole and showing off her tits.

Vanessa reached up and paused. To anyone else, she was building up for a dramatic pause. But, I knew why. Vanessa was mentally preparing herself. She looked over towards me, a nervous gaze in her eye. I smiled warmly at her, giving her two massive thumbs-up for reassurance. I mouthed at her "You can do it."

She took another deep breath, then gave herself a huge swing around, dipping her head near the stage floor before swinging upwards. She didn't miss a single movement and the crowd cheered wildly. As Sherri went to try it, however, on the downswing, her hand gave out and she fell onto the floor.

"And Sherri Wolf is down!" the announcer said as he cut the video. The crowd exploded into a frenzy as Vanessa was crowned the winner.

"Yay Vanessa!" I cheered at the top of my lungs! "I knew you could do it!" I ran over to the stage, pushing aside anyone else. Vanessa grabbed me and pulled me up to the stage, wrapping her arms around me and kissing me firmly.

"You gave me confidence, dear!" Vanessa said as she showered me with kisses. Neither of us cared how many cameras were on us. "So, Sherri," Vanessa said as she turned to her as Sherri slowly got up. "What was the punishment you said? Loser has to model down the runway wearing only pasties and a thong?"

Sherri's face was red with frustration. "Grrr, I'll get you one day, Vanessa!"

Vanessa, however, decided to be the bigger woman. She wrapped her arms around Sherri and gave her a huge hug. "You were a wonderful competition. You don't have to do the punishment. Thank you."

Sherri stammered, trying to comprehend the niceness of Vanessa. "You... you... well, uh... your tits are crushing mine!" She separated from the hug, but I could see that she very much appreciated the kindness. She huffed, trying to keep her pride, and walked backstage.

"Come on," Vanessa said as she stood up and waved to everyone, then extended her hand out to me. "The party's still going on!"