Survival of the Fittest: Maxwell Vs. Nikoli

Story by Serathin on SoFurry

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#7 of Survival of the Fittest

Round 5: Maxwell the Raven's rubber butler Vs. Nikoli the curious snow leopard

Maxwell belongs to ravensflock

Nikoli belongs to nikoli


The automatic lights came on as the rubberized individual stood up, Maxwell looking around the otherwise dark room. He was just about to look around when a screen lit up in the darkness, a silver dragon looking back at the tuxedoed individual as a question mark appeared on his otherwise featureless face. "Ah, I see that special synthetic anesthetic worked its wonders after all." Argos said as he looked at the butler up and down. "You're the first of the rubbery that has woken, guess those special synthetic tranquilizers worked after all."

As several spotlights illuminated the tall figure a black storm cloud appeared on the otherwise featureless mask of the rubber butler. With the lights on he found himself in a room that was rather peculiar in nature. He was surrounded by steel walls but he could feel and see grass under his feet as well as what looked like the open sky above him. As he watched the clouds go by though he saw the image flicker slightly, indicating to him that it was nothing more than a mere projection on the ceiling of the otherwise inescapable room.

"So you're probably wondering why you're... wait a second..." Argos looked down and frowned slightly at the man, which caused a question mark to appear on Maxwell's helmet. "It was my inclination that all contestants were to be stripped in order to ensure the fairness of the contest. How is it that you're still dressed? I see the restrictor collar on you still... I would think that the benefactor of this contest would allow his servants to overlook such a detail."

The image of a smirk appeared on the blank white screen of the helmet, followed by several other lewd images. "Excuse me, I am not a pervert, I am a super-intelligent quantum interface." Argos retorted. "Hmmm, scans indicate that the rubber clothing is more or less your actual body, so I guess by the very technical term you are naked... though I'm guessing the technicians just didn't want to spend the time trying to get them off. Very well then, onto your challenge of what I can only say is going to be a nature themed round of this competition."

Maxwell cocked his head slightly, then looked around at his surroundings for what his challenge could be. "Sometimes these challenges test what's on the inside." Argos continued. "In your case, it's a seed of a 'rubber tree' that has been implanted into your body, something you should be very well aware of considering your master's proclivities. The little guy will be dormant until the time begins and then begin its journey of using your body as a host to root into the ground and become a big strong tree. The only thing that will stop it is an antidote in a syringe, but wouldn't you know it that someone buried it in the ground recently instead of giving it to you. You'll have thirty seconds to find it and dig it back up, but just be warned that the more contact you have with the ground the more your new little friend is going to react. You got it?"

Maxwell's helmet responded with a thumbs up symbol appearing on his helmet. "You're very good at taking this in stride." Argos commented as a timer appeared on the wall. "You have ten seconds to scout out the spot, then thirty seconds to dig. Good luck!"

Maxwell wasted no time in starting his search as soon the timer started, though the question mark on his helmet revealed his confusion in exactly what he was supposed to do. He walked around the relatively small area a few times as the timer counted down from ten, though he had little idea of what to look for. He hadn't seen anything that was different, and the AI was rather vague on exactly what he was looking for. When the timer ran out he was still no closer to what he thought he had to do, so when his actual thirty seconds started he decided to go onto his knees and just began to dig.

As his fingers scratched into the dirt he could feel something begin to squirm around inside his body, another picture of a question mark appearing on his helmet followed by a picture of a tree. He didn't have to wait long for his answer, as the rubber butler continued to dig he found more and more of the dirt stick to his fingers. The vines that had pushed out of the digits were the same rubbery consistency as the rest of his body, and when he looked down he saw that his fingers weren't the only thing that tentacles came from. When he raised up his legs he had found the vines had pushed through his shins and all the way down to his feet, and when he pulled them up they continued to wiggle out in the open air.

Maxwell saw that only a few seconds had passed since his revelation, though as he looked down at his hole he was frustrated at his lack of progress. Suddenly a shovel picture and an exclamation mark appeared on his mask, and once more he ran around the room, only this time with far greater purpose. It didn't take long for him to find what he was looking for, a patch of freshly dug up dirt that was hidden by some broken sod. But while he knew that this was likely where he was supposed to dig, he wondered how to do it while he minimized his exposure to the ground itself. Even while he stood there he could feel the rubber vines of his feet slide out of his synthetic skin and burrow into the ground, a strangely pleasurable sensation that caused his body to involuntarily shiver.

Finally the rubber butler decided to do a downward facing dog style pose, he put his toes as far up as he could while he used one hand to brace himself. It seemed the plant that had infested him knew what he was doing, his insides writhed and his rubber skin pulsated and bulged as he began to dig. He tried not to focus on it, but Maxwell couldn't help but feel an erotic tingle from it. After a few seconds of digging he found that the tentacles continued to branch out and thicken, his legs and feet looked more like a tree trunk and his body had begun to actually sink into the ground.

Maxwell reached about a foot in depth when half of his time ticked down, his stomach began to dip slightly as he continued to dig. His muscles began to strain, though he couldn't tell if it was from fatigue or the alien plant that continued to entwine through his body. What he could tell was the plant was when he felt several of the thick vines slide out from various spots on his skin and dig into the ground, nearly pulling him down with it as the roots on his feet and arm began to crawl up and over his skin and towards his main body. He began to look less humanoid by the second through the branches did well to keep his general body shape as he could feel more push their way out of his back and flail into the air. Despite the surreal seriousness of the situation he felt an almost strange sense of calm and tranquility, his thoughts altering slightly to wanting nothing more than to let himself grow and bask in the artificial sunlight...

Those ideas were quickly pushed to the side however as an electronic noise announced that he only had ten seconds left. He resumed his digging, only now his other hand began to look much like the first and keep more and more of the dirt that he tried to push out of the hole. Thankfully it looked like he had reached his destination, feeling something smooth and unnatural underneath his mutated digits that he pulled up to the surface. Much like what Argos had said it was a tube filled with an amber liquid in what looked like an autoinjector pen, all he had to do was push it against the rubber of his skin and press the small button on top.

Unfortunately a small hitch arose when he tried to pull his hands out of the dirt in order to grab it, both arms now covered in plant vines and dug deeply into the ground. There was only precious seconds left in order for him to get up and use it and so he put all his effort into the hand that was less anchored, leveraging the rest of his body against the ground in order to do it. The increased contact with the ground caused his entire body to writhe in pleasure, each thick root or vine caused a separate blissful sensation to shoot through him as more and more of them pushed out of his body and into the ground below. The gambit paid off though the loose dirt gave way and he was able to free his hand enough to wrap his bloated fingers around the autoinjector, just as the vines on his body had begun to wrap around and engulf his helmet which had an anime sweatdrop pictured on it.

With three seconds left to spare Maxwell injected himself with the antidote and the effect was instantaneous, the vines and roots completely liquidated and sloughed off of his body while the plant material that was still inside him was reabsorbed into his body. Within a few seconds he found that he could move again, he slowly stood up and brushed himself off before he tossed the now empty autoinjector onto the ground.

"Well, aren't we prone to theatrics?" Argos asked rhetorically as Maxwell formed a face with its tongue sticking out on his helmet. "That was rather close, a few more seconds and you would have been the first contestant that we would have had to issue a penalty too. Ah well, I guess my hoping that you would be a topiary servant was a little much. Congratulations I guess... the door will be open for you to continue on for your head to head. Unless of course you wish to stick around, I'm sure that when your collar goes off it will make you into a very lovely rubber tree."

Maxwell deftly shook his head and started to walk through the open door, only to find that his feet still gripped the ground and upon closer inspection he found that there were tiny vines that still poked out of his shoes. "Oh, don't mind the new friends." Argos commented. "I didn't want to leave you hanging without some memento of your success, plus you'll find that they are quite attached to you. Now hurry on, I would like two opponents to get out at the same time for once..."

*********************

"Nnnng..." Nikoli groaned as he started to awaken from his slumber. The snow leopard felt something press and undulate against his body, and as he tried to speak out he felt something press against the outside of his muzzle. When his vision returned to him his eyes widened, seeing exactly what it was that bound not only his mouth but his body as well. Thick green vines were wrapped around his entire form and had him pressed against the wall. He tried to wiggle out of his bindings, but with every struggle they seemed to branch out and wrap tighter around his limbs.

"Whoa there, settle down cat." Nikoli suddenly heard as his vision was filled with the visage of a silver dragon. "If you keep struggling like that then the challenge will be over before it begins."

It took a few seconds before Nikoli settled down, though the smooth flesh pressed everywhere against his naked body and caused him to squirm despite himself. "So you've got yourself an interesting challenge here, sort of the opposite of what your opponent had to go through. These vines are rather tenacious, the more you fight them the thicker they'll grow around your body and cause you arousal as well as assimilate your body into a similar structure. Your goal is to free yourself from that wall within thirty seconds, although if you fail then I'm sure we can find a permanent place for you in the gardens. Do you understand?"

Nikoli tried to reply, but as soon as he opened his mouth one of the thicker vines snaked their way in and several smaller ones clamped around his muzzle. "I will take that as a yes." Argos continued on. "Now you will have ten seconds to try and figure the best plan of attack against them, but the second you start to move in earnest the vines will restart and your official challenge timer will start. Good luck, your time starts... now!"

As much as he wanted to immediately begin to try and free himself Nikoli knew that ten extra seconds of thinking time would serve him better then to just immediately jump into something. He carefully tried to assess his situation, other than the vine that was halfway down his throat there was at least one more that had found its way up his tailhole. Every time he adjusted his hips he could feel it inside him, and though it didn't do anything at the moment he could sense the tip was nestled right against his prostrate. But besides those two all the other vines seemed to be content to merely wrap around his body, which gave him a strange restrictive yet still free quality to his predicament as his ten seconds quickly vanished down to zero.

When his official timer began Nikoli immediately began to wiggle his body in order to try and use as little force as possible to squirm out, but as he shook his arms and legs he could feel the vines continue to grow around and even into his limbs. The feeling of the plants digging into his body was like a surreal full-body massage, the deeper they went the more pleasurable the sensations were. The feelings weren't the only thing to happen to his body either, as he looked down he noticed wherever the vines penetrated his fur and skin had begun to turn a vibrant green color.

The snow leopard took a second to recompose himself, something that proved difficult as the vines began to snake over his now fully erect member and the thick appendage lodged in his backside began to grow even more inside him, and then tried an experiment to just get his fingers out of the coils of plant matter that had grown around them. As he slowly pulled the digits away he found to his dismay that they just continued to grow around his fingers as soon as they moved, almost completely enveloping them. By the time he had stopped it looked like he had on a strange pair of vine-woven mittens and he could feel them penetrate through his entire hand as the green coloration permeated his fur all the way up to his elbow.

He was just about to try only doing his feet instead when he turned his head and noticed something peculiar. While he had worked on his left arm he let his other one relax in the grip of the vines, and when he looked he saw that his entire appendage was looser then before though the plants remained coiled around his skin it appeared that their anchors had detached from the wall itself. Nikoli thought back to what the silver dragon had said and realized that the vines acted like some sort of strange full body Chinese finger trap, all he had to do was relax and it should free him from the wall. As the plan formed in his mind he wondered a bit about the fact that the vines were still stuck on his arms he also remembered that Argos had told him he had to escape from the wall, not necessarily from the plant itself.

After a quick look to see how much time he had left on the clock Nikoli took a deep breath, which caused the tendrils in his chest to slither further into his fur, before he let it out and attempted to fully relax his body. It wasn't easy, the tentacle-like appendages that had wrapped around his cock did their best to keep him stimulated as he tried to focus on loosening every muscle in his body. He found that his form had begun to sink as the leafy material that had secured itself to him and the wall began to release their grip, his body sliding down the cool stone of the wall as he felt his heart skip a beat.

Suddenly several of the vines decided to let go at once and Nikoli's body seized as he felt himself plunge towards the ground. The thick branches that were wrapped around his arms and upper body stopped him, but as he had moved to try and brace himself he found himself once more getting pulled back towards the door as the green vines began to cover him completely. It was a moment of panic that set him back, and even stranger still it seemed to amplify the effect that the plants had on his body as he could feel his muscles bulge and his entire body grow more defined from the transformation. The vines in his mouth and tailhole also seemed to shift as well, not only penetrating even deeper but they also leaked a thick sap that began to flow into his body and bulge out his midsection slightly.

Despite his dryadic transformation he tried to calm himself down once more, though it was even harder as he not only had to deal with his plant-cocooned cock but also that the vines that had wrapped around his face had begun to push into his nose and ears. As the foreign material began to invade his skull he began to hear whispers from what he could only assume was the plant itself, trying to convince him to give into the transformation to become one of the protectors of the forests and in exchange they would pleasure his member and tailhole for all eternity. Nikoli was having none of it, though the strange images of the exotic, sensual flora did engage his curiosity he wanted more to win instead.

Once more Nikoli tried to make himself relax, though his entire body burned with lust he took a few more smaller breaths and closed his eyes. Once again as soon as his muscles slackened and he felt himself get lowered towards the ground. He could feel himself head towards the ground once more and he kept his eyes closed so that all he felt was the occasional dip as his body kept falling away from the wall. Surprisingly it was his feet that hit the floor first, and though the vines were still writhing around his body he kept his calm and was able to walk away without them attempting to pull him back. When the last vine finally left the wall he let out a deep sigh of relief, especially as the plants immediately fell away from his fur and his throbbing erection began to subside.

"Well good job there Nikoli." Argos said as he reappeared on the screen. "I was wondering if you were going to figure it out, but there you are. Looks like brains were recruited as well as brawn."

"Recruited?" Nikoli asked before he looked down at himself and his jaw opened wide in shock. "Wait a minute, my fur is still green!"

"Ah yes, a handy little bonus for you that I thought was quite appropriate..." Argos replied with a smirk. "Perhaps you'll reconsider the offer to become a dryad for the forests and gardens after you get used to looking a bit more like them, though I'm sad to say that this room will be closed off to you once you proceed. Speaking of which, if you'll just step over to open door we can continue on with your challenge."

Nikoli nodded and began to walk towards the now open threshold in the wall, but stopped and looked back at the wall for a few seconds. Even though the challenge was finished he could still almost feel their presence inside him, though it certainly wasn't as overpowering as during the challenge itself. Still... he found himself lick his lips as he began to wonder what it would have been like to have lost. Those thoughts were short-lived though, as the silver collar that was around his neck began to beep he steeled himself once more for the challenge ahead and headed through the open door.

*********************

Maxwell and Nikoli both looked up as they entered the room at around the same time, each of them on a platform with a smooth pole suspended on its side between them. Below the pole was a translucent, shiny liquid, both of them looking over the edge before they looked at each other. "Hey, I remember you... I thought you were a waiter." Nikoli said as he pointed at him. "You're actually competing in this thing?"

"Well if he isn't then I've made a terrible mistake in my contestant accounting abilities." Argos said as he suddenly appeared on the viewscreen. "Welcome to your head to head challenge Nikoli and Maxwell. What you see before you is a rolling log suspended over a pool of a very special material, when both of you are on the mark the brakes on the log will disengage and you will have to try and knock each other off of it. The first person to fall off the log five times is out. Pretty straight-forward if I do say so myself, but does anyone have any questions?"

"I actually am wondering why I'm naked and he's-" Nikoli started to say before Argos cut him off.

"No questions? Good." Argos said with a smirk and a clap of his hands. "Then good luck to you two, may the best man win and all that."

The two contestants regarded the log for a second, but it was Maxwell that took the first step on it. Despite the slick appearance the surface was quite stable and he slowly continued forward until he reached an area with a white x on it. As he looked back up to Nikoli there was a symbol of a U followed by an arrow pointing downward. "Are you... telling me that I'm going down?" The snow leopard asked, to which the butler nodded in reply. "Alright then, I'll show you whose going down I guess."

Nikoli took a deep breath and then took a step on the log, followed by another, until he was at the same mark that Maxwell now stood on. Almost immediately they felt whatever held the platform disengage and both their bodies shook slightly as it began to roll slightly. As they took several steps to try and balance themselves in only proved to make the log roll quicker, until both of them broke into a run in order to try and keep on it. They were able to keep pace for a few seconds until Maxwell lost his footing and fell head over heels into the translucent liquid below.

As the butler hit the surface of the pool it gave more like jello then water, though it was still easy enough for him to recover from and swim back over to his platform. As he hoisted himself up the liquid sloshed off of him easily enough, but it appeared that the coloration of the edges of his clothing had turned crystal clear. As his fingers ran over the altered areas he found them to be firm but spongy, like a cool gel-pack. He didn't take time to dwell on it though, instead he hopped back onto the log where Nikoli waited, the snow leopard rebalanced by a strange force that supported him the second that Maxwell went into the water.

Once Maxwell got back onto the mark the second round began, but this time both contestants were much better prepared for it. They both tried to control the rolling, which ended up causing the log to remain still for the longest of times. Finally the rubber butler took a chance and pushed hard with his feet in one direction, which caught Nikoli by surprise and sent him tumbling down into the gooey substance below. He fell below the surface with a thick splash, then quickly rose to the surface once more as his hands wiped the gel-like substance from his face.

"Huh, don't even have to swim." Nikoli commented as he floated there with his arms in the air, despite the fluidity of the substance it seemed to keep him on the surface as he pushed himself back to his platform. As he got out and shook himself off he found himself already dry, though it seemed to cling to the tips of his fur. When he tried to wipe the lingering substance off he found to some surprise that about an inch of his fur had seemingly been converted to the same gel that the pool had been composed of except that it had a hint of green to it. "Looks like we know what happens to the losers."

As Nikoli got back on the log he saw the black lines on Maxwell's mask make out a rather detailed depiction of a hand that pointed it at the snow leopard. "Hey, the score's tied, still a long way off before declaring someone the loser." Nikoli retorted as he got onto his mark and the log was set loose once more. "Alright, let's roll."

The two contestants once more started what was the third round of the competition, both stared at each other intently as they slowly got their platform rolling. Both contestants now had tried to get a few jumps on each other, more than once they started and stopped in order to try and get the other off-balance. The two seemed evenly matched, both of them were dexterous enough to stay on the log for quite some time even when they almost lost their footing, but after about thirty seconds one contestant's grip finally slipped and sent them tumbling into the drink.

Maxwell's head emerged from the gel water a few seconds later, the face of the helmet a myriad of angry squiggles as he swam towards the shore. This time his clothing had lost a lot of its coloration, his fingers and the tips of his shoes had been completely turned to gel. Despite his second loss the butler still seemed to be in high spirits, especially when he flipped up onto his hands and walked onto the log on them. "Really?" Nikoli said as Maxwell flipped up onto his feet right on the mark. "You do know you're-"

Maxwell took advantage of the distraction of the snow leopard and started to spin the log, Nikoli unaware that the round had started. He tried to right himself but it was too late, his next vision was that of the gel pit as he slid down into the abyss. Maxwell watched with a few mocking pictures on the face on his helmet as the feline pulled himself out of the abyss, his fur completely matted down. Like his competitor his fingers and toes had already begun to turn clear, when he realized it Nikoli squished his transformed fingers more than once and reveled in how strange the sensations were.

"Fool me once..." Nikoli said as he got back onto the log, the butler wagging his finger at him as they started their fifth round. The two of them started each other down, not even moving at first as one of them waited for the other to make the first move. After a few seconds though Nikoli decided to try and unseat Maxwell, though the butler quickly countered with a move of his own. Both of them soon brought up the tempo, the log spun wildly underneath them as they kept rolling stronger and stronger. There were no tricks there, this time it was pure endurance and balance that would win.

Finally it was Maxwell that lost his balance first, an exclamation mark appeared briefly on his face before his body disappeared into the gel water. There was a few seconds where it looked like the butler languished under the surface, but when he finally did appear on the surface once more he started to do the backstroke in the thick water in jest. By the time he pulled himself out of the water his arms and legs had become clear up to his elbow and knees, though they still maintained his strength and dexterity the affected area still felt like there was nothing more than gel and the skin that kept its consistency.

Despite his loss Maxwell bounded up onto the log in good spirits, though he suspected part of it was from the gel itself. Nikoli felt it too, the squishy parts of his body just felt very pleasurable every time the gel-like liquid was pushed around. But the two were dead-set on their competition, and once more their dance of the log began. They were professionals now, each of them knew how the other worked now and it caused them to pull out more and more elaborate tricks in order to try and best the other. Maxwell kept flashing various symbols and facial expressions on his mask in order to try and throw off the snow leopard while Nikoli kept making faces and gestures to do the same to him.

Once again though it was Maxwell that found himself tipped into the drink after Nikoli managed to reverse the direction on him. "Yeah!" The snow leopard cheered as he saw his opponent fall in for the fourth time, watching as it took longer for the rubberized man to pull himself up. The changes were far more apparent now, the clear gel had now subsumed his limbs and the bottom part of his torso, though Maxwell still felt as strong as ever. As the butler looked down at himself he tried an experiment and pushed his hand into his own stomach, a look of bemusement formed on the black lines of his helmet as he wiggled his fingers inside himself. The sensations were incredible and Nikoli had to watch awkwardly as he bent and compacted his form to great effect.

"Um... Maxwell." Nikoli said, the rubber butler looking up before a sheepish black blush formed on his helmet. As he walked back up to the platform and the log he found that the gel transformation continued even more, the clear material assimilated his shoulders and his lower chest by the time he stepped onto the platform once more.

Nikoli was so entranced by the butler's new body that within a couple seconds he found himself in drink, unable to keep his concentration enough to hold his footing. Despite the loss the snow leopard was intrigued on how the transformation was going to affect him, and as he swam back towards his platform he could feel the changes start happen to him immediately. By the time he hoisted himself up not only had the transformation completely consumed his limbs but nearly half the skin of his cock had also been turned. When he squeezed the transformed flesh he immediately wished he hadn't, the lust created was so intense it caused him to writhe there on the floor as he stroked it a few more times before he managed to get a hold of himself.

In the ninth round both contestants felt the pressure immensely as the log began to roll under their feet again, for Maxwell it was his final chance before elimination but was catching up to Nikoli. Nikoli knew that he was only one drop away from being tied up with him and blow his lead. More than once they found each other teetering, but after nearly a full minute both guys were at a stalemate. "I got you..." the snow leopard said as he tried to feint and roll him off, but Maxwell countered right back... but finally after two more counters Nikoli spun the log hard to the left and Maxwell's gel leg crumbled under him and sent him down into the pit for the final time.

Maxwell had just hopped on the platform when his entire body began to writhe, his hands running over his body as the clear material crept up his chest and neck. Nikoli couldn't tell if it was from pain or pleasure until a lewd image appeared on the helmet that made the snow leopard turn away, the butler unable to do anything but stroke his even more malleable body as the gel consumed his helmet right up to his mask. Nikoli thanked the fact that Maxwell was mute when Argos suddenly appeared on the screen in front of him, the silver dragon looking over his shoulder before back at him.

"Well well, the butler and the kitten, and the kitten wins." Argos said as Nikoli walked off of the log, his eyes still fixated on the crystal clear butler that had been almost completely converted into a gel version of itself save for the face of his helmet. "Of course your win comes with a choice, you can either let dear Maxwell continue on with the competition, or you can put yourself one step closer and eliminate him."

Nikoli stood there for a second and thought about it, tapping the bottom of his chin as he considered the options. Finally the snow leopard turned towards Argos with his answer. "I'm not feeling particularly inventive with words for now, but I'll be nice and show him mercy." He said before he looked back at Maxwell. "You're welcome."

"Aren't you the generous one?" Argos replied with a smirk. "Too bad, I could have used a personal manservant to do my bidding... but I shall respect your wishes. If you will just continue on I will take care of the loser later. Congratulations again Nikoli."

Nikoli nodded and walked through the door that appeared suddenly on his end, and as soon as it closed shut Argos looked over at the still sloughed over Maxwell. "Hmmm, I wonder if you're going to speak once I'm done with you Maxwell." Argos said as the veins of the crystal blue gel began to spiderweb across the white surface of the mask, the formerly rubber man's hand gripped the smooth material as it consumed the last of him. For a few seconds he shook his head, but as the last of the glossy white disappeared he suddenly straightened up, his transparent form standing stock still as Argos clapped his hands.

"I would assume that you are trying to say something, but the pictures aren't forming." Argos said with an evil grin. "Don't worry, I'm sure we can find some places where a gel butler will come in handy..."