The applause of the collective audience directed her way only partially boosted the slightly mortified grin of the kitten in the close tank, the rest of it the glorious result of the gunge that was even now trickling over her head and shoulders, red and black slime mixing with the once pure white foam bubbling up around her shoulders, foam that is even now being leeched into by the swirled gunk. The same gunk that had filled the tank fitted to the top of the chamber and now completely drenched her elegant school-girl style outfit which was as much a part of her stage persona as her youthful sisterly personality.

That embarrassed smile did nothing to alter the fondly censorious finger she waggled at her friend still standing next to the tank, the red scaled lizard at least having the grace to look sheepish as an undertow to her clearly thrilled grin.

What exactly had her so ecstatic was revealed by one of the duo of raccoons that stood a few paces away from the centre of the small raised stage, her chestnut fur a couple of shades lighter than that of her counterpart who apart from that is so akin to her that they could have been sisters. To even a detailed observation they were strikingly a mirror for each other; same length of hair, same height, even same cup size. A complete mirror.

'Well at least one of you is happy.' Danni said brightly. 'I'm sorry, Amanda, that you didn't win the cruise. But at least you can treat yourself and a friend to a luxury spa weekend. Something I hope you will be extending an invitation for Aurora to, since it was your gamble that got her gunged after all.'

'I think it would only be good manners.' The monitor lizard said sheepishly, granting the still slime drenched kitten pop star another smile mixed with a relived revulsion. 'I'm just glad it wasn't me. That stuff looks disgusting.'

'Maybe you would like to come in and find out.' Aurora jokingly flicked gunge at her friend, making her flinch despite the solid wall of plastic between them. 'Hey. Danni, Terri. How quickly could you reset this thing?'

'Relax, Amanda. You aren't going in there.' Danni soothed hearing the lizard's squeak of fright. 'We have to start wrapping things up. So why don't you two go and work things out with a nice shower. Okay, go on. Off you go.'

With the gooey victim now released from the tank, both girls scooted off to the back of the stage, the feline still dripping slime as she playfully rubbed her friend's head, that sight momentarily distracting the audience before Terri drew their attention back to her.

'Anyway, I think that about wraps things up for tonight's show. We'd..' Terri said softly, the darker furred raccoon stepping up to the edge of the stage with a flick of her hair; cut of when her cohost cleared her throat.

'What? But we can't end the episode there. It's our first one. We just can't end it without using our showstopper. It's our main attraction.' Danni said earnestly, the whole audience following her gaze towards the shrouded shape shrouded in shadow that dominated the smaller set that the majority of the show had been filmed on, one that everyone seated in the stalls knew hid the shows captivating dunk tank, one that had dominated the shows teasers with epic shots of the long steel ramp running right down towards the squat pool of icky gunge that would soon no doubt claim it's first victim.

'Surely we can't let all these people go home without seeing it in action. I mean, they've come all this way.' Danni continued.

'Well...' Terri mused. '...that's true. In fact, even though she doesn't know it yet, we have one person here tonight who is going to see it in action a lot closer than she ever imagined.'

A hush fell over the audience at that, the assembled furs sharing glances with their neighbours either friend or stranger alike; all of them wondering who was going to be picked and, in most cases, hoping it wasn't them.

It was a moment of suspense that Danni drew out, aided by the multitude of spotlights dancing over the increasingly nervous crowd; the flickering display of illuminated choreography controlled by a computer that would soon narrow in on its target. 'Chloe Flores, come on down.'

Barely a second before those words slipped from the raccoon's muzzle, both the cameras and spotlights focused on a petit, if nicely curvy, panda who only seconds ago had been squirming excitedly at the arrival of the part of the show she had been awaiting with literal baited breath, eager to see who the recipient of the unexpected gunging would be. Excitement that was rapidly turning to shock as she realised it was going to be her, shock that could easily be seen rippling along the yellow fur of her neck exposed by her black tank top which matched perfectly with her purple skirt.

Certainly she could be forgiven for allowing that shock to leave her frozen in her seat even as the audience's applause tinged with more than a little relief echoed around her. Only that didn't really work for Danni, the raccoon abandoning her cohost to stride up into the audience and straight towards the panda who was increasingly feeling like a rabbit caught in the proverbial headlights.

'It's okay. Come on, sweetie. No need to be bashful. Come on.' Danni coo'd playfully.

For some reason, be it the fact that the cameras were on her or the pressure of the audiences continuing applause or just the somehow irresistible urging of the raccoon, Chloe found herself standing and being led down towards the stage, towards the dunk tank it dawned on her distractedly, to a fresh round of eager applause from the audience.

'It's okay. Come over here. That's it.' Danni eased her over to the edge of the still shadow shrouded tank gently. 'Now, Chloe, sweetie; want to have a guess why we have brought you down here?'

'Ummm..so I can pick someone to end up in that thing?' Chloe said with a cheeky grin towards the tank that stood almost as deep as she was tall, her initial shock having faded enough to allow her to respond with her usual cockiness.

'Nice try.' Terri strolled over casually. 'Luckily for you, we have someone here who can answer that question. Oh, Belle.'

Terri's voice, amplified easily by her microphone, heralded the arrival of the slightly sheepish but by no means confidant husky that strode out, long legs flashing beneath her short tight denim jeans and black leggings that complimented her sweater maybe worn as protection against the possibility of an accidental gunging. 'Hiya Chloe. Looks like it's you that's going to be tricked this year. Which will be a real treat for me.'

'Hmmm, sounds like there is a real history there.' Danni chimed in. 'Why don't you tell us about it. I'm guessing maybe that Chloe here is somewhat of a prankster?'

Danni knew that of course. Knew the whole story really. How else could she be certain the panda was deserving of a gunging. But it was more fun to reveal things slowly, to play along with the slow build up to get the audience intrigued.

'Usually, no.' Belle answered that question at last, her black fur flashed with white streaks rippling slightly. 'Until Halloween comes along. Then it's like some kind of pranking spirit possesses her. Which is why I really wanted her to come along for the gunging she so richly deserves.'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa.' Danni chided. 'We all want to see that. Okay, not so much Chloe. But we will ignore that. Slow it down, girl. I can see you are excited to get some revenge. But before we get started, why don't you tell us why you think she deserves to get gunged.'

Belle took a deep breath, either reining in her nerves or excitement. Either way she took a second to steady herself before continuing. 'Why doesn't she? Every year on Halloween she holds a Halloween party where she delights in freaking everyone out with her take on a haunted house.'

'Let me guess, you are her favourite victim?' Danni asked.

'Well, no one is really safe.' Belle continued. 'But last year she did seem to take special delight in locking me in a pitch dark room filled with slimy streamers hanging from the ceiling and leaving me to find my way out. And the year before that she made me her test subject to run her House of Horrors fright test. Didn't tell me about it of course. Just shoved me inside and sent someone in a horribly realistic zombie costume to chase me. I panicked and ran, all the while she had her friends spraying cobwebs at me and rattling chains and banging on walls. To say nothing of jumping out at me in sheets or skeleton costumes. I thought I was going to die when I got to the other end.'

'Let's go back to sheets and ghosts for a second. I'm guessing that was what you meant.' Danni prompted. 'Didn't she start of this pranking business by jumping out at you dressed up in a sheet.'

'She did.' Belle nodded. 'Scared the life out of me, given it was pitch dark at the time. And sent me stumbling into this muddy puddle I could almost have sworn she put there.'

'Yup. I did that. But that wasn't my first pranking was it? I can believe you forgot when I made you go ducking for apples in green slime.' Chloe chuckled.

'I'm not sure honesty was the best policy here.' Terri said pointedly, directing Chloe's attention to her friends scowl.

Why? It's not like I'm guaranteed to get gunged.' Chloe shrugged. 'I've know how this works.'

'Oh, you mean how we give our victim the chance to defend herself?' Terri replied, guessing correctly that Chloe had done some research on her own, no doubt following the rumours and hype about the show. 'Well, that's true. We do like to give them a sporting chance to save herself.'

Belle's face fell, looking at the raccoon with a mix of shock and sudden concern. It was worrying enough that she might escape her well deserved fate. But even more so that somehow it could mean that she could end up taking her place.

'Sadly we don't have time for that tonight.' Terri finished, drawing a sigh of relief from the husky.

Belle might have been relived, but now it was Chloe's face that fell, not liking where this was going. Especially not as Belle broke out laughing.

'Now..' Danni took over, lingering on that significant pause. 'Chloe..honey..I have good news and bad news.'

'Is the good news that I'm definitely not going to get gunged?' Chloe asked, the quaver in her voice indicative of how good she thought her chances were.

No. You are certainly going to get gunged.' Terri said firmly. 'It's just up to you how covered you are in when that happens. Which I'm sure doesn't make sense. But you just go along with these fine ladies and they will get you set up.'

So..' Terri paused to watch the increasingly apprehensive Panda lead away by a couple of stage hands before turning to her friend. '..have you heard anything about the show Belle?'

'Not really.' Belle admitted, shyly. She had never been one for following current events.

'But you have seen our showstopper.' Terri asked.

'Not exactly. I know it's something like a fairground ride, right?' Belle asked tentatively, almost embarrassed to admit she had resisted the temptation to look it up online; worried that any clips she had seen might have spoiled the surprise to come.

'In a way.' Terri grinned wickedly. 'Why don't you come and take a look. Don't worry. This isn't a trick to gunge you.'

Belle couldn't help being a little worried anyway, that phrase seeming to her like that might have been something they would have normally done. Maybe she should have researched this show after all.

'Now...normally I wouldnt suggest anyone stood here.' Terri said, a conspiratorial, even comradely arm draped around the husky's shoulders. Something Belle didn't really feel, distracted by the high walls of the tank that came up to her shoulders, shuddering with either repressed excitement or dread at how much gunge was in there. Or maybe both. 'Not in what we call the Danger Zone.'

'I thought you would have called it the Drop Zone.' Belle asked.

'Oh, no.' Terri smirked. 'That's right in the centre of the vat. Somewhere you really don't want to be. And on any other night could have been. Neither does Chloe of course. But she doesn't get much choice in that. Normally she would. See, we certainly aren't above either making girls in your position take a little challenge to let them do what you are about to do to Chloe. And if they loose, well, it's the dunk tank for them instead.'

Again, Belle squirmed nervously, suddenly fearing some trick or trap. unsure if this had been a trick. Something that both raccoons wouldn't be above trying, she reflected upon hearing the ripple of laughter from the audience. Luckily the only thing Terri did was continue.

'But I don't think she earned that reprieve. Or earned the right to try to talk her way out of it. See up there?' Terri extended her paw and slender finger to draw all attention to the heavy metal track. 'That ramp? We'd usually leave our victim sitting up there, her chariot for this ride suspended over the gunge destined to be her messy fate if she fluffs her last chance to convince us not to drop her in it. Now, come up here. Just up these steps. That's right. It's much safer up here.'

Belle didn't exactly agree with that, not as she was lead out over the platform that, instead of keeping her safely protected below the wide tank now left her open to the expanse of it. And gave her her first proper look at the shape that she hadn't been able to appreciate from below.

'Ohh..it's big..isn't it.' Belle tittered nervously, stepping closer to the three foot wide expense of smooth gunge that no doubt lay hidden beneath the low lighting then clearly thought better of it.

'Go big or go home has always been our motto.' Belle replied coyly. 'And I'm sure that any minute now we will see Chloe appear, also dressed appropriately for someone who loves to play Halloween pranks. Ah yes, there she is.'

Belle, along with the rest of the audience couldn't help following the finger that pointed to the platform which rose above the one the trio occupied, the narrow walkway running up to a long tunnel of some sort. A gesture perfectly timed as a very nervous Chloe shuffled out onto the platform only slightly relieved to not find herself facing a sudden drop into the gunge even as she eyed the tunnel. Yet she did look anxious, and none to comfortable in the short tight witches outfit she had obviously been provided with during her brief stint off set, the deep black material creating the same striking effect against her fur as her regular outfit, as did the pleated skirt barely coming past her thighs.

She didn't look any more comfortable as Belle was lead up towards the platform by the raccoon duo, stopping on a smaller ledge occupied by a large lever that the panda eyed with growing trepidation before raising her attention to the structure before her again.

'Right. So in honour of your infamous haunted house pranks, we have set up our own Tunnel of Terror just for you. Aren't you lucky.' Danni took over with a grin.

'I'm not feeling that lucky.' Chloe chuckled nervously, seeming to be taking her punishment in good spirits; perhaps feeling she was in some way getting what she deserved.

'Well, maybe you shouldn't. Still..all you have to do is make it through to the other end and pull the lever you find there. Ready?'

'No.' Chloe admitted.

'Oh well.' Danni shrugged. 'Go.'

Pausing only to take a deep breath, Chloe raced into the darkness that filled the tunnel, half expecting to be gunged the second she stepped inside. Turned out her expectations had been wrong on many levels. Firstly, she wasn't instantly dosed in anything, and secondly what she had taken to be a long dark corridor simply proved to be an illusion created by the sheet of black paper stretched across the entry way maybe two feet in. Something she didn't realise until she crashed through it.

What she saw on the other side she liked even less. Not because it was scary, more so because it was disorienting. Had she been less distracted by her current predicament, she might have realised how this would have disoriented anyone. Yet she couldn't focus on thoughts like that, the multitude of flickering lights that weaved over the close environment creating enough of a disruption to what she had expected to see that she couldn't stop it throwing her a little.

Which didn't stop her taking a shaky first step, the second coming only a little less hesitantly. Regardless it didn't take her long to find her stride, crossing the still slightly disorientating open space. Anxiety and disorientation aside, she was sort of in the mindset of this place now, her mind fully accepting that this place was out to scare her.

That might have been the reason why she didn't flinch as the jets of mist erupted from the walls ahead of her, bravely striding through the slightly cool billowing clouds that did little more than obscure her vision. Sadly that meant that she had no warning or chance to prepare herself for what was lurking in the ceiling.

Something that Belle from her safe position outside the tunnel could see perfectly clearly, the fake cobwebs showing the first clue to what lay ahead. The huge screens fixed to the outside clearly showing the whole of the tunnel and the trials she was going to face.

The first Chloe knew about the dark shape now looming over her head was when it dropped down in front of her with a hiss. Prepared or not, Chloe had only one possible reaction to the huge spider that seemed almost to appear out of nowhere before her, leaping back and completely unable to contain the shrill shriek that burst from her lips. As if that wasn't bad enough, she was still reeling from the shock that had her heart beating a hundred miles an hour when the faux spider launched a spray of sticky stringy web right into her face.

Still, it might have been that which prompted Chloe to duck and dodge under the spider, quite a feat to do so skilfully given she was still scraping the web from her eyes. Which turned out to be a bad move as she completely missed the two black suited figures lying in wait for her, the very first she knew of their presence was when they grabbed at her shirt and tugged, the specially designed seems ripping easily to leave her clad in only her bra and the ridiculously short skirt.

While she couldn't deny a certain rush of embarrassment at being so skilfully and quickly stripped, Chloe didn't let that stop her, all her attention focused on reaching the end of this tunnel. It was with that focus that she slipped and dodged around the multitude of laughing and giggling glowing pumpkins that rose and lowered and twisted around the close space on some kind of poles like a demented carrousel; not even caring when a close brush against one resulted in a dusting of flour from overhead. Chloe ignored that, eager to get out without losing any more clothing. Which was surely the point, Danni's words about not liking what would happen/how covered she would be when she got out finally ringing true.

The one consolation was she was nearly out, the huge lever mounted onto the wall ahead a sure sign of that, nicely highlighted by the orange neon lights proudly proclaiming 'Trick' and 'Treat.' Okay, she couldn't see the door it had to open. But with the rolling clouds of mist that filled this last area, she could barely make out the statue like shapes that almost seemed to sway behind the clouds.

Taking another deep breath, Chloe summed up all her courage and sprinted forward, her forthright action proving to to be a little foolish, one of those statues turning out to be anything but. Something Chloe realised too late as the one to her left turned. Credit to her that shock didn't stop her trying to leap away. Sadly it didn't stop the hands that grabbed her skirt, her irresistible forward motion doing the rest. Ignoring the rip of cloth and what it meant, Chloe focused all her attention on reaching the lever. One, two, three strides and she was within arms length of it. More than close enough to grasp it. But still, Chloe waited one more step, took a firm hold and grasped. Only for the floor to give way beneath her, opening up to a close slide down which she did just that, sliding in an uncontrolled decent until that ended with a soft jolt, a jolt brought along by the squat chair she now found herself in. A chair hovering just shy of the lip of the huge vat of gunge that looked a lot more scary now she was up close.

'Oh no.' Chloe whispered as her gaze lifted up, almost drawn up to the line of softly swinging vats that lined her path, vats she shuddered to think what they were full of. No doubt something as slimy as the contents of the vat beneath her, the contents of which her scant underwear would be no protection against. With a shaky breath she dared to look back at the gunge inches below her, her feet almost involuntarily raising with a shudder against how icky it would feel.

'Well, Chloe, seems the shoe is very much on the other foot now.' Danni called up to her from the platform down below where she had ushered the chuckling husky towards the ominous lever. 'Looks like the joke was on you this time. But since I'm feeling generous I'm going to offer you one last chance to save yourself. It's a simple choice really. Belle here pulls this lever and sends you up the ramp only to be dumped into the gunge. Or you can remove the rest of your clothes and we can call that square I think.'

'So..wait..if I strip then you don't gunge me?' Chloe said with a relieved grin. 'I'll take that. Not like I'm shy or anything.'

'No, we've noticed that.' Danni said dryly. 'Okay. Get them off.'

Clearly eager to avoid the gunge, Chloe wasted no time stripping off her bra, tossing it towards Terri before hooking her fingers into her panties and pulling them off one ankle then the other.

'Well, we can't argue with that.' Danni nodded as Chloe adjusted her legs to preserve what modesty she could. 'What do you think Belle? Do you think she we should let her off the hook?'

'Oh, heck no.' Belle grinned up at the naked panda. 'I'm sure she is going to come up with some way to get back at me for this. So since I'm probably already lined up for another pranking, why not go for it.'

'Hey. Wait. You said you wouldn't gunge me.' Chloe blurted out.

'That's true.' Danni shrugged. 'Never mentioned what Belle would do though. So, Belle, it's up to you.'

The way Chloe tensed up was priceless, her arms moving instantly to cover her chest and head, suddenly thinking better of it and clinging to the arms of the chair for dear life. Neither of which would save her.

'Sorry, Chloe. But you kinda had this coming. And when am I going to get this chance again?' Belle snickered.

'No..Belle..come on. I..wait...' Chloe shrieked nervously, that cry doing no good as Belle yanked the lever with all her strength, a flurry of sparks erupting around her. A shriek that did nothing to stop the chair slowly climbing up the ramp towards the almost eagerly awaiting top. Slow it might be but it was too quick for Chloe, the chair locking into place with a click. Something that seemed a waste of time as barely a second later that mechanism released to send Chloe slowly rolling back down the ramp, the freshly released breaks allowing her to slowly pick up speed.

There was nothing slow about the tip of the vats overhead though, so fast that the already primed trickle of gunge had turned into a deluge just as the naked Panda was dragged through it, blue slime literally flung all over her just simply by being whisked under it. With gunge streaked through her hair and over her chest before she was even halfway through the line of vats, Chloe could do nothing but cling onto the chair for dear life, horribly aware that despite the gunge splattering down her back and over her legs, she was soon about to end up even messier than that.

It was only when she cleared the trailing edge of the last stream, furiously shaking gunge from her eyes, that she shrieked again. One that didn't so much trail off as grow, the chair stopped sharply to throw the helpless gunge drenched girl into the eagerly awaiting pool.

Arms and legs flailing in a desperate and ultimately futile attempt to stop the inevitable, Chloe landed with an almighty splash, flinging a wave of pink and yellow gunge high into the air to splatter against the edge of the cauldron. One second became two became three before she emerged, completely unrecognisable from the pink and yellow gunk that plastered her from head to toe, drenching her right down from her ears to her ankles, perfectly clinging to ever inch of her. Hair slicked to her head and fur mattered, the gunge somehow highlighting her nakedness rather than covering it up.

Grimacing yet relieved it was over, Chloe moved to wipe the gunge from her face only to have that rendered useless by the dual streams of green gunge that splattered over her front and back from the pipes hidden over head, completing her humiliation and punishment with a fresh dousing she could do nothing to avoid. Which didn't stop her trying to get away, staggering backwards quickly only for her feet to get tangled up and send her pitching down into the pool of gunge again. This time landing on her butt, submerged chest deep in the goo with green slime still pouring over her drooped head and running down her neck. She struggled up right into a jet of blue slime, not seeming to care she was naked as it pretty effectively protected her modesty by slopping over her breasts.

'Well, Belle, I hope that was worth it.' Danni chimed in. 'And I hope you all enjoyed that at home. Do catch us next week. Until then, be good to each other. Or it could be you awaiting a well deserved gunging.'

--------------

I know..furry stuff not really everyone's cup of tea. But this was such fun to write I just had to share it here. Maybe I'll play around with this idea for you, or if you'd like to see something sooner, hit me up for a commission or request. I'm good for most ideas.