Wheel of Transformation

 

 

Wheel of Transformation

By CalexTheNeko

 

“Ladies and gentleman it’s time for everyone’s favorite gameshow! Wheel of Transformation! The show where our contestants risk their own humanity and body for a chance to win fabulous prizes! And I’m your host Maury!” A yellow anthro fox with nine tails wearing a pure white suit and jacket flashed a smile. He stood behind a large red podium on the left side of a brightly lit purple stage. The right side of the stage was completely covered by a red curtain. The stage sat in front of a large audience that was packed with creatures of various species and sizes that clapped and hooted in excitement as the show began. “We’ve got a great show for you tonight ladies and gentleman! But I won’t have you take my word for it… Let’s introduce our first guests and get started! Everyone, put your hands, paws, claws or wings together for our first contestant! Zeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelooooooooooooo!”

 

As he shouted, the curtain slowly raised up revealing the other side of the stage. Here there was a blue podium with the nametag ‘Zeelo’ displayed on it. Standing behind it was a human boy who looked to be in his young twenties. He was dressed simply in a sweater, jeans and sneakers. Despite his simple dress he had taken the time to neatly comb his brown hair and do his best to clean up and look presentable on TV.

 

“So… Zeelo…” Maury approached the blue podium. “Must be pretty unreal knowing you’re actually on the show in real life huh?” Maury flashed a predatory smile.

 

“A… a little…” Zeelo stammered. “But…. I’ve watched been watching the show since the first season…. And… I- I’m really excited too!”

 

“So, have you seen every episode then?” Maury asked as Zeelo nodded. “And yet he still showed up.” This got a laugh from the audience as Maury moved back to his own podium. He slammed a paw down on a large red button with gleeful energy as smoke erupted from the floor. Then something began to rise. It was large and colorful wheel and it occupied the entirety of the stage between Maury and Zeelo. The wheel was split into several categories each with a brief description written in it:

 

Animal Transformation

Animal Anthro Transformation

Mythical Animal Transformation

Mythical Animal Anthro Transformation

Fictional Animal Transformation

Fictional Animal Anthro Transformation

25% Age Loss

50% Age Loss

75% Age Loss

Regression Blitz

25% Size Loss

50% Size Loss

75% Size Loss

Shrinking Blitz

 

“Now then everyone here should already know how this works!” Maury grinned. “But for the sake of being fair, and for those at home who might be seeing this for the first time because they were living under a rock for the last three years; I’ll explain the rules! There are ten questions total, each one with their own prize! Before each question our contestant Zeelo will spin the wheel to determine what he’s gambling! If he gets the question right he wins the prize! If he gets it wrong we’ll magically transform his body before your very eyes right here on TV! Oh… And of course if either of the Blitz comes up we’ll get something really fun! Whenever you’re ready Zeelo… Spin the wheel!”

 

“R-right.” Zeelo was shaking slightly from nervousness. There were a couple reasons for this… One of them was the fact he was on live TV. That alone was enough to make him nervous. The other well… He was literally gambling his humanity. The truth is…. That didn’t bother him too much. He didn’t mind the idea of being turned into some kind of cute animal person if he lost… Actually depending on the animal it very much appealed to him. But… It was all random, there was no guarantee it’d be an animal he liked if he got the questions wrong. Not to mention there were the other types of penalties. He had seen more than a handful of episodes end with the contestant being carried out in a Petri dish. All he could do was try his best to get all the questions… Even if he didn’t get the big prizes, as long as he got most of them right nothing too bad should happen.

 

He reached a hand up to grab the side of the wheel and spun it. He was surprised how light-weight it was. Then again, given what sometimes happened maybe that was a necessity. He barely put any strength into the spin and now the thing just kept going. It must have taken a full minute before the wheel finally started to slow down. The wheel came to it’s final stop on 25% Age Loss. Audience reaction was mixed here. There were a few sighs of disappointment from people who were obviously hoping to replace this human with a more interesting creature and a few gasps of excitement from those who wanted to see him turned a cute little kid.

 

“Alright, question one. For the prize of $100, or the loss of 25% of your age!  What institution turned quite a few eyebrows, when in 1971 they began issuing unicorn hunting permits?”

 

“What?” Zeelo’s mouth hung agape. That was one of the most bizarre things he had ever heard… But… There had to only be a few agencies that could issue hunting permits right? He could make an educated guess here… Something that would make sense. “Would it be… The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services?” A loud buzzer sounded.

 

“Ohhhh, not even close.” Maury shook his head. “It was Lake Superior University! No money for you… But the audience gets their prize!” As Maury spoke his tails began to twitch and Zeelo’s body began to glow. He started to get shorter, and a little skinnier. However the changes to his stature weren’t nearly as dramatic to his face and skin, which became lighter in tone and softer looking. After a few seconds he was no longer an adult, but a 16 year old teenager.

 

“Gaah!” Zeelo grabbed ahold of the belt of his jeans before they fell off. His clothes were loose, but still wearable. He quickly undid his belt and tightened it a couple extra notches to keep his jeans from falling off. The leg of the pants were slightly longer than normal, now covering the top of his shoes a bit, but he was in no danger of tripping. There were a few laughs and applause from the audience, and then silence as he realized they were waiting on him. He reached for the wheel and spun it again. And it came right back around to 25% age loss.

 

“Hmmm again? Well, at least you’re consistent.” Maury shrugged. “Alright, this time the prize up for grabs is $500. And you already know what’s at stake. So question two! Everyone knows what night Santa Clause comes to town! But less know about his evil counter point Krampus! On what date does Krampus Night, where he steals children away their homes, fall?”

 

“Ah!” A folklore question, this was more like what Zeelo had been expecting… But he wasn’t 100% sure. But… If Santa brought toys to the good kids on the 25th then Krampus would visit right after, right? “December 26th!” He shouted confidently.” A buzzer sounded, and Zeelo’s body began to glow again as the kitsune’s spell took hold of him. Now he was shrinking more dramatically. Most of his growth spurts had been during his teen years, and he lost quite a bit of height as he aged backwards. His shoes were far too large on him now, and his pants only managed to stay up as he clung to them with one hand. Meanwhile his sweater ow went down to his thighs. Zeelo squeaked a  bit, and slowly stepped out of his shoes and pulled his now giant socks off with his spare hand.

 

“The correct answer was December 5th. But not a bad try kid.” The word kid was said with extra emphasis to drive home the point. “Move on when you’re ready.”

 

“Ugh just give me… A second…” Zeelo’s voice was so squeaky now. He was at that age where his voice was physically changing, not quite sounding like a kid, but not sounding anything like an adult. He struggled to reach the wheel from the podium, having to take a few steps. With a sigh he let his jeans fall to the ground, stepping out of them. The sweater was just barely enough to maintain his modesty, though he’d have to be careful not to make too many quick movements. Then again… At the rate he was going maybe it’d cover more soon. For better or worse, he spun the wheel again. This time it landed on Fictional Animal Anthro Transformation. There was roar of applause from the crowd. This was what many of them were waiting for.

 

“Ohhhh, your species is on the chopping block this time!” Maury smiled. “As for the prize, this time we have an item donated by our sponsor! A state of the art, brand new top of the line gaming PC! Now question three! Which bank allows its users to perform ATM Transactions in Latin?”

 

“Latin?” Zeelo just gave the fox a dumbfounded look. Why would anyone even want that? Who would need it? Was there anywhere it was still spoken? Wait, he had to be thinking about this the wrong way… It must have just been a bank that was so large its machines offered transactions in every language! So… Which bank would that be… “JPMorgan?” Zeelo tried the biggest bank he could think of.

 

“Ohhh good guess.” The buzzer sounded. “But it was actually the Vatican. They have their own bank.”

 

“That… makes sense…” Zeelo conceded then yelped as the fox flicked his tails and Zeelo’s body began to glow again. There was a loud spring noise as Zeelo’s ears sprouted into large rabbit-like ones. Then light brown quickly grew in covering his entire body. His face pushed out slightly as his nose turned black. Whiskers sprouted, and he dropped in height to almost half of what he had been in. It wasn’t obvious what Zeelo was changing into though until a pair of red wings sprung out of his back and a large red pompom attached to a long thin antenna grew out of his head. “K-kupo!?” The audience grew wild at this, and at least one shout of ‘It’s a proper Ivalice moogle! Not one of those fake ones!’ could be heard.

 

“We here at Wheel of Transformation would like to take this time to thank our usual sponsors!” Maury wagged his tails. “Continue on please.”

 

“R-right kupo.” Zeelo’s was tangled up in his own sweater. As a moogle it was like moving around in a tent. He had to struggle to get his arms free, which in turn freed his wings and let his sweater fall down around his waistline. He managed to hang onto it with one hand, keeping it on almost like a skirt as he pushed against the wheel to get it going again. It didn’t spin nearly as long as his other attempts before it came up on 75% Age Loss. “Are you kidding kupo!?”

 

“Ohhhh, we might be getting a baby moogle in a few moments folks. Question four! This time, the prize is a whopping $1000! What is the unit of measurement a ‘buttload’ used to measure?”

 

“Wait that one is easy kupo!” Zeelo grinned. “It can measure anything, it just means a lot kupo!” The buzzer sounded. “Wait but-“

 

“That might be how it’s used today… But originally it was for measuring wine.” Maury grinned. “And one buttload is equal to 108 gallons.” His tails began to flick.

 

“Wait… No! Kuuuuppoooooo!” Zeelo gave a shout as he began to shrink again. He found his legs becoming shaky as he shot straight past childhood and back into toddlerhood. He was rounder in general as he shrunk down to a mere three years old. The sudden change was enough to knock the toddler down onto his bottom. It took him a few seconds to slowly stand back up on unsteady legs, leaving his sweater now on the ground. He was now standing before the audience naked. “Kupooooo…” The wheel was so big by comparison to him. He less spun it, and more fell against the side of it pushing with both hands to get it going. This time it landed on Mythical Animal Anthro Transformation. Audience reaction was mixed again, some wanted to see more of the baby moogle, others were excited to see what he became next.

 

“You know how it goes now.” Maury smiled. “The prize is a priceless chest of gold and jewels! As for question five… What do you call a baby porcupine?”

 

“A… a pup kupo!” It was the first thing Zeelo thought of… And the buzzer quickly told him he was wrong. He began to change again… His height didn’t change much… But his fur gave way to brownish-red scales as his wings and pompom melted away. His tiny nub of a tail grew out into much longer and thicker object, at least compared to his body. His ears shrunk slightly, taking on a more finlike shape while his muzzle stretched into a long snout. He now looked like a tiny wingless dragon.

 

“But hey as kobold maybe you’ll work for someone else who does have a chest of gold.” Maury’s tails twitched with anticipation. “We’re at the halfway point!”

 

“Right… Right…” Zeelo felt so small and vulnerable like this. He took a deep breath as he got up and spun the wheel again. This time it just came up as Fictional Animal Transformation.

 

“Time for another prize from our sponsors.” Maury was enjoying every minute of this. “Get this one right, and you get yourself a popular handheld gaming device! Number six! What did they use in place of pumpkins to carve jack-o-lanterns in 19th century Ireland?”

 

“Uhhhh.” Zeelo thought for a moment. It had to be something sturdy… “Potatoes?” The buzzer sounded. Zeelo found himself falling onto all fours as his scales were replaced by fur again. It was light brown over most of his body, with darker brown patches on his chest, atop his head and running down his tail. His ears shrunk into smaller triangle shapes while small claws formed on the tips of his four paws. He almost looked like an oddly colored cat, except for a pair of white wings sticking out the back.

 

“If anyone asks, you’re not a cat, you’re a dragon.” Maury insisted. “I know it’s confusing. But hey, this is an upgrade from kobold in pecking order! Now…. How about you spin that wheel again.”

 

“I’m… Not sure how!” Zeelo was surprised he could still talk. He flapped his wings, taking off from ground clumsily. He managed to flap a few feet before colliding with the side of the wheel digging all four sets of claws into it. He slowly slid off it as the wheel spun. This time the wheel landed on Shrinking Blitz. A siren sounded. “Oh no.”

 

“Looks like question seven has been replaced by a Blitz!” Maury shouted. “Here’s how it works! You’re going to be given five statements in a row! You just say true or false! Each time you get one right, you earn money. Get one wrong, you shrink. If you manage to get a chain of right answers in a row, the money rewarded gets bigger! But… A chain of incorrect answers results in you shrinking much, much smaller.”

 

“I… see…” Zeelo swallowed nervously.”

 

“Then let’s begin! Abe Lincoln was once a wrestling champion!”

 

“Uhhh true!” Zeelo guessed. Much to his surprise, there was a ding of approval.

 

“Luck doth strike. That’s $100! Grass communicates with other plans through scent, the scent of freshly cut grass is a cry for help.”

 

“False?” A buzzer sounded, and Zeelo shrunk down to half his size.

 

“The Museum of Bad Art displays exclusively postmodern work.”

 

“False!” The ding of approval sounded as Zeelo was awarded another $100.

 

“Beethoven made his coffee with exactly 60 beans every day.”

 

“False!” Zeelo sounded so sure, but the buzzer sounded and he began to shrink again.

 

“Tsundoku is a term to describe people who read every book they buy.”

 

“True?” Zeelo had no clue, but the buzzer sounded. This time the shrinking was more extreme, taking him to a fourth of his size. The tiny little dragon was left at a mere inch and a half in length. Despite his catlike appearance he was smaller than most mice.

 

“Only thee left.” Maury grinned. “Spin.”

 

“Um… How?” Zeelo flew up and collided with the wheel. It didn’t even move. Maury shot him an annoyed glance before walking over and spinning the wheel himself. This time it came up on Anthro Animal.

 

“For the eighth question, and a huge prize of $5,000 what is located above the supreme course physically, and known as the Highest Court in the Land.

 

“Oh!” Zeelo’s eyes grew wide. He knew this one. “A basketball court!”

 

“I’m sorry that’s-“ Maury’s mouth hung open as the ding of approval range. “Correct… You now have $5,000 added to your prize pool. But you still have two more questions.” Maury spun the wheel. He grinned manically as it landed on Shrinking Blitz again.

 

“Oh… Uh oh…” Zeelo muttered.

 

“Well… We already have explanations done, so here we go.” Maury smiled evilly. “Giraffes have the highest blood pressure of any animal.”

 

“True?” Ding. Zeelo gained $100.

 

“The Heads on Easter island are bodiless.”

 

“False!” There was another Ding, and $500 was added to his score.

 

“The Margherita pizza was named after a queen.”

 

“Uh… Uh… False!” The buzzer sounded, and Zeelo shrunk down to half his size with a high pitched yelp.

 

“During World War II, the United States rationed shoes.”

 

“That’s gotta be false!” Zeelo was confident. After all plenty of species didn’t even wear shoes… Like himself now… But his confidence faded as he began shrinking again, now smaller than most insects.

 

“Ravens can learn to talk better than parrots!”

 

“…!” Zeelo’s voice wasn’t audible as anything more than a tiny squeak. Whatever he said, the buzzer sounded and the tiny dragon got even smaller. He was reduced to an eight of his height, leaving him at half a millimeter in length, no bigger than a single grain of fine sand.

 

“Well, it looks like we’re up to our last question.” Maury was grinning ear to ear. “And as Zeelo isn’t quite in the shape to do it himself… Once more!” He spun the wheel, and it came up as Anthro Animal Transformation.

 

“Final question, for $10,000! What is the plural of cul-de-sac?” Maury asked the question, then got down on his hands and knees next to the tiny brown speck that was Zeelo. He twitched his ears for a bit, but it seemed he couldn’t make out what was being said. “I’m sorry, you’ve exhausted your time without giving an audible answer, and that means you lose!” He flicked his tails as the speck glowed for a moment. The audience sat in silence. “Hmmm, let’s get a quick zoom in on the camera for the audience please!”

 

A TV screen lit up on the stage, showing Zeelo down on the ground. Where there had been a cat-like dragon, there was now a very, very, very small three year old anthro otter. He was sitting with his arms crossed and a grumpy expression. He had been certain he got the last question right, but no one heard. There was much d’awing at the tiny otter tyke.

 

“Well… He might not be getting the grand prize, but he is going home with $5,800!” Maury flashed a winning grin. “And cause we’re such good sports, we’ll even throw in a semi-aquatic terrarium so he can have his own private beach at home!” This was met with applause and laughs of approval. “Thanks for being here Zeelo! And don’t worry, we’ll use first class mail to send you back home! I’m your host Maury… And this has been… WHEEL OF TRANSFORMATION!”

 

The End