"Of course", continued the announcer, "don't get your hopes up. You almost certainly will not get what you wished for, and will have to make do with whatever your choice of vial gave you! So whether it's an aardvark or a zebra, you'll have to use that form to its fullest to win. Remember, your new animal body will instinctively know how to do things, so don't be afraid to backseat a little and let your animal instincts run the show".
A large screen above the stage flashed into life, showing an aerial view of the park. "You will be deployed randomly to one of eight starting locations", said the announcer, and eight glowing spots appeared on the map as he spoke. "You may have to adjust for where you've been placed, and make a beeline for..."
The overhead map of the park cut to a view of a large dining table, set out in the middle of a grassy clearing. The camera zoomed in to show eight vials on the table. "... the vials! You cannot claim victory or start eliminating contestants without first having drunk your vial, which you will pick randomly from the eight on the table. Once you take a vial, you can imbibe it immediately or later, and both can have their advantages. You have no more than two hours after taking a vial to drink it. If you haven't drunk your vial after two hours have elapsed, you are automatically disqualified".
Another scene cut, this time to what was apparently a hidden camera in a cave. "Why would you want to delay drinking your vial? Perhaps to transform in peace and privacy... or maybe to retain an advantage over your competitors. Let's take a look at Stefan here". A well-built man in his fifties, with a grizzled, thick beard and wearing rumpled clothes, staggered in the cave. He was clutching something in his hand and was looking over his shoulder. "Stefan was a participant in one of last year's games. He just escaped a bloodbath at the vials table without drinking his vial, and managed to hide in this cave". Rick watched, fascinated, as Stefan caught his breath. Then, seeing he was safe, he started to undress, pulling off his clothes one by and putting them in a little pile in the back of the cave. There was some chuckling from the audience as Stefan pulled down his white briefs - and a pixelated effect appeared over his groin. "Yeah, this is an adults-only resort, but we still have to maintain some kind of decency for the public", said the host with a grin. "Contestants, the cameras will be on you but rest assured that we will pixelate any potentially indecent material".
Rick watched as Stefan downed his vial and tossed it aside. The result was immediate. The older man doubled over, his groaning clearly audible through the hidden camera, and sank to his knees. His salt-and-pepper beard darkened, and the hair on his body followed suit. Stefan stared at his hands as they stretched out, his nails sharpening. His body slimmed down and rippled with muscle as downy black hair grew all over it. He looked up at the ceiling and stifled a roar before falling onto all fours, grunting and gasping as his skeletal structure changed, a long, graceful tail bursting out in spurts. Now completely covered in midnight black fur, he shook himself before starting to lick his paws. "That's right, Stefan drew a black panther vial", said the announcer, as the panther padded out of the cave. "He would go on to win that Game, as none of the other participants were looking for a black cat in the night".
Another scenery cut, back to the vials table. There was only one vial left on it. "Once you have your vial, you may not take any other vial - doing so will get you disqualified. However, if you have not imbibed your vial yet, you may attempt to prevent other competitors from drinking theirs, as long as you still drink your vial within the two-hour limit." There was movement from the side of the screen, and a scared-looking Indian woman in a green evening dress stumbled into view. "It's a rare tactic, but it's worth watching out for it. Here, in another of our past games, Shanti is the last to grab a vial, and she's rightly worried".
Shanti ran to the table, exhausted, grabbing a vial and putting it to her mouth immediately. There was a gasp of shock from the audience as, out of nowhere, a large man suddenly dove in front of the camera, tackling the much smaller Shanti to the ground and wrestling the vial out of her hand. "That's right, former linebacker Connor was waiting for the last contestant and was prepared to do anything to delay them". Everyone groaned as Connor managed to pull the vial out of Shanti's hand and fling it away, crushing the unfortunate woman into submission until only her twitching arms and legs were visible. "Normally, Shanti would be at Connor's mercy, and have to go and find the vial later when he let her go. But..."
But? Something started to stir under Connor, and the football player looked confused. Then he started to rise off the ground. Shanti was growing, swelling up at an alarming rate, her small brown body ripping through her dress as she got bigger and bigger. Soon her bloated bulk turned gray and her smooth skin began to wrinkle, all while a horrified Connor held on to her back for dear life. "That's right, Shanti had expected something like this, and had managed to drink her vial before Connor tackled her. And wouldn't you know it, she drew the coveted African elephant vial". The camera shifted to show Shanti's pretty face with a triumphant smile as her nose bulged and stretched out into a long, muscular trunk, and mighty tusks pushed out of her mouth. She shook her head, causing her thick black hair to fall out.
Connor was clearly trying to drink his own vial before the fully-formed African elephant reached over her head and grabbed Connor with her trunk, holding him in a crushing embrace before flinging him off screen. "Shanti won that Game, but points were deducted for, uh, eliminating a contestant who hadn't drunk his vial yet. Still, the judges felt she deserved credit for anticipating his move".
Everyone clapped and cheered before the host calmed them down. "Now then, I think our contestants are just raring to begin". Several Resort employees, accompanied with cameramen, got onto the stage. "Our contestants will be ushered to their chosen starting positions, and the Game will begin! You may start betting now at any of our designated booths, you can bet on anything from the winner to the placement of all eight to the animals drawn, ask for further information regarding odds..."
Rick felt dazed as he was escorted away while being encouraged and given helpful tips by his crew. This was really happening.