"And.... we're live in 5... 4... 3..."

The two and 1 counts were silent, and on the zero a drum-roll filled the auditorium. The producer gave a large pointing cue to the announcer before darting off-stage. The announcer was wearing a suit and tie standing in front of a podium at the edge of the stage. The announcer started the introduction with a loud, Hollywood voice,

"Welcome everyone to..."

At this point, the audience joined in, sing-song style.

"LET'S... PLAY... A... GAME!!!!"

The drum roll ended and the theme music started up. The curtain flew apart revealing the dungeon-like set of the show, complete with three saltier style crosses across from a podium. The announcer continued, "Everybody give a big scream for your host, Mark De Sade!"

At this point the audience let loose with a comically loud, maudlin scream as the host jaunted out onto the stage. He was in a tuxedo with a lavalier mic clipped to his tie and a huge, shit-eating grin on his face and sauntered up to his spot behind the podium. The audience quieted down and the host spoke.

"Hi everybody and welcome to 'Let's Play A Game!' - the first and only S&M trivia game show. Someone has a chance to walk out of here tonight with TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!"

The audience oohed. Mark continued, "But they will only take that money home if they don't 'tap out!' Let's meet the our three challengers."

A spotlight appeared at the edge of the stage and a completely nude lady - except for a frilly masquerade ball mask over the top half of her face and a cuff on each wrist - stepped out into it. She had very pale skin and some freckles on her face along with honey-blonde hair. Her pubic hair was a small, wispy triangle that ended just above the chink of her sex. The announcer introduced her, "She's 30 years old and she tells us she has been her master's pain slut for 5 years! She enjoys giving blowjobs when she isn't being spanked! Say 'hello' to Sharon!"

Sharon waved to the crowd and cameras and sauntered over to the cross closest to the middle of the stage. She stepped back to it and held her arms up and hooked the eyes on each cuff to a hook in the cross arm so that her arms were high above her head. After she was done she smiled back at the audience.

The spotlight returned to the edge of the stage again and another lady similarly "dressed" emerged. She was a bit shorter than Sharon and asian, with short, straight black hair and a completely shaved pussy. The announcer chimed in again, "She's 29 years old and she tells us her sassy mouth earns her a lot of punishment! She's Aiko!"

Aiko sauntered over to the center cross and likewise put her hands up and hooked them onto her cross. The spotlight made it's last trip to the stage and a third nude lady appeared. She was tall and tanned, with wavy brown hair down to her shoulders. Her crotch had a thick line of hair that ended just above her sex. One last time, the announcer spoke, "She's only 23 and she says she hasn't found a man yet that can make her cry! Won't you welcome Sadie!"

The audience clapped as all three contestants posed and smiled with their hands up in a "Y" above them.

The spotlight returned to the host, "Alright ladies, remember the fundamental rule of this game - at any time, anyone can say 'Stop!' and leave the game with nothing. But only one of you will have the chance to play for the grand prize. We'll play two rounds of our warm-up game. We'll ask each of you a trivia question. Get it right and you'll win $100. Get it wrong, and you'll be punished. This first round, the punishment starts with 3 swats with the paddle," at this point, Mark showed the paddle - a two foot long, 3 inch wide blond maple model, "and every question you get wrong that will go up by two."

"Sharon we'll start with you. The first category is video games. What is the name of the video game series that includes the titles 'San Andreas' and 'Vice City?'"

Sharon smiled and confidently said, "Grand Theft Auto."

"Correct. Aiko, in music, what is the name of the 4 stringed instrument commonly associated with Hawaii?"

Aiko replied, "Ukulele."

"Correct. Sadie, mathematics, what is seventy-two divided by three?"

Sadie frowned, her brow knitted in thought, and blurted out "Twenty two!"

A buzzer sounded and Mark said, "No, I'm afraid the correct answer is twenty four. Please step out here for your swats."

Sadie gave a pout and brought her arms down from their place on the cross and walked to the center of the stage. Mark met her with the paddle and said, "Turn around and hands on your knees, please. You have three coming."

Sadie took up her spot and Mark stood to her side holding the paddle out to gauge the distance. Then he moved the paddle back and let loose with a full swing. The smack rang through the room immediately followed by a cry from Sadie's mouth. The audience counted "ONE!" The paddle moved again, revealing the pink left behind by the first swat on Sadie's butt-cheeks, paused at the end of the backswing and flew forward to give another ringing impact. The audience helpfully shouted "TWO!" not quite drowning out Sadie's shriek. The paddle moved once more and the audience concluded with "THREE!" as Sadies hands flew behind her to rub her abused bottom as she hopped from one foot to another. The audience applauded briefly and Sadie reluctantly removed her hands and went back to her place with her hands up. Her eyes were noticeably moist and she sniffled once.

"Alright, we'll continue on. Sharon, what U.S. state among the 48 contiguous states was most recently admitted?"

Sharon confidently answered, "New Mexico!"

The buzzer sounded again and Mark corrected her, "No, I'm afraid the correct answer is Arizona. Please step out."

Sharon briefly looked thunderstruck that her confident answer was revealed to be incorrect. She brought her hands down and walked over to the center of the stage and took up her place. As with Sadie, Sharon took three swats as the audience counted. Sharon took her swats bravely, but as she stood up to return to her place, she wiped a tear off one cheek.

"Moving on. Aiko, in the New Testament, the four gospels were written by Mathew, Mark, Luke and what other author?"

Aiko smiled and said, "John."

"Correct. Sadie, in mythology, Greek soldiers infiltrated the city of Troy hidden in what sort of animal?"

A more subdued Sadie answered, "A horse."

"Correct. Sharon, which team won Super Bowl twenty-nine, the 49ers or the Chargers?"

Sharon's face took on a panicked look. She looked around for help, before stammering out, "The Ch-ch-chargers?"

The buzzer sounded again and Mark said, "No, I'm sorry, Sharon, but the correct answer is the 49ers. Please step out. You're up to 5 swats now."

Sharon brought her hands out and was visibly upset but walked to the center of the stage and slowly assumed her position as Mark joined her with the paddle.

Sharon took the first swat with just a shriek, but at the second one she lifted her hands off her knees before quickly returning them to place. The third swat made her shriek and stand up, her hands flying behind her. She turned to Mark and said, "No more, please. No more."

Mark raised an eyebrow, "Leaving us so soon, Sharon? Are you sure?"

Sharon began to cry and nodded her head. Mark dropped the paddle and took Sharon into a brief comforting embrace before turning her to face the audience. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, Sharon is saying 'goodbye' to us now, let's all give her a round of applause."

The audience clapped and cheered, which brought a brief half-smile to Sharon's face as she wiped the tears from her eyes and walked off-stage.

"Alright, Aiko and Sadie, we're down to two of you, so we're going to raise the stakes now. Each correct answer is now worth $200, and as for wrong answers... We're going to switch from the paddle to the cane, and the starting penalty is six strokes, increasing by three for every wrong answer. Aiko, it was your turn, so we'll continue with you. In television, what planet did Mister Spock hail from?"

Aiko looked confident, "Vulcan!"

"Correct. Sadie, in popular culture, what is March the 14th commonly known as?"

Sadie answered, "Pi Day."

"Correct. Aiko, in Cinema, the character known as The Little Tramp was played by Charlie who?"

Aiko's eyes opened wide and she shook her head and said, "I don't know."

The buzzer sounded. "I'm sorry, the correct answer is 'Chaplain.' Please step out here for your six."

Aiko frowned and moved out to the center of the room as the others had done before her. Mark brought over a pencil-thick 3 foot black rod with an ornate handle and placed it up against the very center of Aiko's bottom. He drew it back and it flew forward, landing with a meaty snapping noise on Aiko's bottom and immediately leaving a dark red welt as she screamed. "ONE!" the audience gleefully cheered.

Mark maneuvered the rod up and down her ass, leaving her with six closely spaced lines before he finished. Aiko stood up and her hands flew behind her as she cried loudly. Mark gave her a moment to recover before pointing her back to her spot and sending her on her way with a not-so-gentle smack on her freshly striped bottom.

"Alright, Sadie, your turn, what is the tenth word in the song "Happy Birthday to you?"

Sharon looked at the ceiling and mouthed the words to herself counting with the fingers of her two hands, stretched over her head before shouting, "Birthday!"

"Correct. Aiko, what is the name of North America's largest lake?"

Aiko looked distinctly unconfident and answered, "Lake Michigan?"

The buzzer sounded, "No, it's lake Superior. You're up to nine now, please step over here."

Aiko walked over and took up her place.

Mark repeated the caning he gave her before, only spreading out the area of his stripes to a wider section of her ass, starting just below the top of her crack and going almost a quarter of the way down her thighs. Aiko shrieked with each delivery, but resolutely stood her ground. As before, she stood up after the ninth delivery and cried, hopping from one foot to another. But she made her way back to her spot without waiting to get another encouraging smack from the host.

"Alright, Sadie, in geometry..." but before he could give the question, a siren sounded.

Mark put the question card down and said, "That's the end of the game, so let's add up the scores. Aiko, you have $400 and Sadie, you have $600 and are going on to the bonus round for a chance to win $10,000! Aiko, I'm sorry, but we have to say goodbye. You do get to keep the $400, but we'll double it if you'd be willing to take three with the strap. What do you say?"

The audience all shouted their encouragement. Aiko bit her bottom lip and turned around to look at the damage on her bottom and turned back to Mark and shook her head. Mark smiled and said, "Well I don't know if I can blame you. Everyone, please give a round of applause for today's runner up, Aiko!"

The audience applauded and cheered as Aiko smiled and walked offstage.

Mark motioned for Sadie to join him at the center of the stage. She brought her arms down and walked over to him, a beaming smile on her face. Mark stepped to her side and wrapped an arm around her back and started to speak.

"Alright, here's how the bonus round works: we're going to use the Canadian prison strap and if you can take 25 strokes, you'll win $10,000. The first ten strokes are worth $100 each, for a total of $1000. The next ten are worth $400 each, for a total of $5000, and the last five are worth $1000 each, for a total of TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!"

The audience cheered.

"Now, as before, you just have to tell us to stop and we will. You'll leave here with the $600 you won in the first round, plus however much money you earn taking the strap. Ok?"

Sadie nodded her understanding.

"Alright then, Sadie, take your place for the Canadian prison strap!"

Sadie's face took on a determined look. She turned her back to the audience and walked back to the center cross, placing her arms up on the hooks with her back towards the audience. Mark followed her and knelt behind her and fastened her ankles to the bottom ends of the cross. He brought out a fairly large cushion and pushed it between her tummy and the cross, forcing her bottom to jut out.

He returned to the podium and returned with the strap. It was easily four inches wide and four feet long, with 5 holes punched in it near the end. It was thick and not terribly flexible. Sadie looked over her shoulder at it briefly before turning away and forcing her eyes shut.

"Alright, Sadie, here we go. The first ten, for the first thousand!"

He reared back and launched the strap at its target. It landed with a loud slapping noise, making Sadie's bottom bounce in and out once and wresting a shriek from her mouth as the audience counted "ONE!"

Sadie began to cry, still with her eyes screwed shut as the second impact arrived with the audience calling out "TWO!"

Sadie took the remaining eight yelping between sobs as they landed. Her bottom was deep red with two bullseye bruises on each cheek when the tenth was done.

"Well done, Sadie, you've earned a thousand dollars. Are you ready for the next ten to take you to $5000?"

Sadie coughed once and croaked out a "Yes" and screwed her eyes shut again.

The strap arrived once again with the audience helpfully adding "ELEVEN!" Sadie cried out again and the sobbing began once again, but she made it through the next ten. Her bottom was blotchy and red and she could feel the throbbing in time with her heartbeat.

The audience called out "TWENTY!" after the last one and cheered for her.

"Alright, Sadie, just five more, but these are going to be the toughest. Are you ready?"

All Sadie could do was nod through her tears.

A hush flew over the crowd. Then the impact filled the room. This time the strap landed much lower, half on her bottom and half on her upper thighs. She screamed as the crowd cheered, "TWENTY-ONE!"

There was a pause and the strap made its terrible noise again. This time, the strap landed full on her left thigh, the end wrapping inwards to lick at her tender inner thigh. She screamed again and the crowd cheered, "TWENTY-TWO!"

Mark moved over to her other side. As the hush came back over the crowd he delivered a back-handed stroke mirroring the previous one, wrapping it around the top of her right thigh. The pain on her inner thigh broke her and she screamed out, "STOP!!!" at the same time the audience called out "TWENTY-THREE!"

Mark drew back and dropped the strap and immediately moved down to release Sadie's feet and remove the pillow. He helped her remove her hands from the cross and held her as she cried on his shoulder for a moment. He straightened her up and looked into her eyes and said, "Congratulations, Sadie, for taking twenty-three strokes with the strap, you've won EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS!" He turned to the crowd and said, "Everyone let's have a round of applause for today's champion, Sadie!"

Sadie smiled weakly through her tears and accepted the cheers from the audience.

Mark turned to the audience and said, "That's it for today. Don't forget to tune in tomorrow for..."

The crowd finished for him, "LET'S... PLAY... A... GAME!!!"