The Gamers Gambit Pt 09

GAME CONTINUE Date: March 27th, 21XX Location: Lord Shellie's Fortress High Score: 1,628,520 Top High Score: 3,333,360

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Lord Shellie's fortress stands as a testament of power and boldness. Its whitestone brick contrasted with the burnt nature of the volcano top, and its proximity to such danger spoke of the lord's confidence. It is considered one of the most difficult places to enter. You'd have to be a mad lad or lass to even try.

A river of magma surrounds the fortress like a moat. A drawbridge connected the end of a pathway to the fortress. Patrols of shellies, chumps, bobs, and billies stuck to a tight shift to guard the perimeter. They were stationed throughout the fortress, along the battlements, and out near cliff faces. Lackatoes hovered near corners, their cameras rolling. The security feeds were overseen from a command center within the fortress.

With all that in mind, Lord Shellie found himself comfortable. In one of the top rooms of the fortress, the large shellie fit himself in a white tuxedo. His spiky shell punctured the back of the tuxedo. The room had the accommodations of a high-end dressing room. Grand displays of furniture and bright chandeliers gave the place a noble feel. Lord Shellie used a vanity mirror to adjust the bowtie under his gullet.

"Ah, what a day to be married. You are so very fortunate, my lord," a cranky, elderly voice said from above. There were licks of sarcasm and fear in their tone.

"Right you are, Cammy," Lord Shellie practiced his smile. His draconic row of teeth gleaned in the light. He glanced up at Cammy, who hung in a tangled mess of ropes. The ropes pulled and tugged on her body, BDSM-style. She had a mix of discomfort and eroticism to her expression. Lord Shellie whimsically sighed, "Persica will finally be my wife. Gamer is too busy playing at the resort to stop us. My troops haven't reported anything amiss. Ah, what a day, what a day."

"Yes, my lord. You are very fortunate, my lord," Cammy rained appraisal. She swung a little as she wiggled, the ropes squeezing her voluptuous body.

"I've noticed a change in Persica, though," Lord Shellie meandered over to a window. He cast his gaze to the horizon, "She's more...lively. More opinionated. For as long as I've known her, she's been a quiet, drug-addled moneygrabber. The perfect woman..."

"An astute observation...hah...my lord," Cammy crowed.

"Bah, the sooner we're married, the sooner we'll be back to the status quo. Once I have control of her and Chanterelle, the sky's the limit. Then, I'll conquer the stars!" Lord Shellie fluttered out of the room. The taut ropes ached as Cammy wheezed with ecstacy.

"He's so hot..." Cammy whimpered.

Lord Shellie stomped down the hallway. Every few portraits were just Lord Shellie striking a cool or badass pose. It reminded Lord Shellie that Lord Shellie was the best in the land. Far better than his troops, who were mysteriously not patrolling the halls or outside on the battlements. After spanning a hallway and hanging a right, he slowed to a stop in front of an opulent door. Its gaudy doorframe marked its importance.

Lord Shellie waited in the silence and listened. He heard the low murmur of Princess Persica on the other side. He hadn't seen her since last night. Kammy and Qammy were tasked in suiting her up with a bride's gown.

"Oh, my sweet peach, it'd be wrong of me to enter and see you before the wedding," Lord Shellie blushed. He tapped his nails together bashfully, "I can't possibly peep. But, then again, I wouldn't be a good villain if I followed the rules...bwah hah hah!"

Lord Shellie gingerly opened the door and peeked his snout into Persica's room. As expected, she wore a gorgeous wedding dress. It swooshed to the side like a mermaid's tail, and revealed much of a garter-strapped leg. The corset hugged her torso. She bore her shoulders, and had on elbow long gloves. Instead of a veil, large white flowers accessorized her dreads, and the petals draped over her face. Makeup dolled her up with vivid colors.

What ruined the scene and flabbergasted Lord Shellie were the two knocked out shellie mages. They were sprawled over the vanity couch like wet towels. In front of Persica was Gamer, who fiddled with buckling up his jeans.

"It's not my fault somebody sabotaged my zipper and my penis conveniently flops out," Gamer responded defensively to Persica.

"I bet you're the one who sabotaged it," Persica crossed her arms.

"Moi?!" Gamer's overdramatized the accusation.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Lord Shellie barged in. Gamer and Persica both jumped at the irate dragon.

"Aaah!!" Gamer screamed, pulled out his magnum, and shot Lord Shellie. The thunderous bang caused Persica to flinch ans cover her ears. The bullet pinged and deflected off the lord's chest. Lord Shellie was unmoved and perplexed by the ineffectiveness.

"Gamer! What was that?" Persica asked.

"I fired a warning shot...at his heart," Gamer narrowed his eyes.

"Enough!" Lord Shellie approached. "I want to know exactly how you got past all my defenses without raising an alarm."

Gamer grinned, "Oh ho, sit back and grab some popcorn..."

***

After we had seen the Illuminati sign over the fortress, we decided to rest for the night. We were tuckered out after the race that I totally won. Asterion and Sonia logged out, and Minnie and I found our hut.

The next morning, I awoke to birds chirping, a beautiful sunrise, and two soft turtle titties pressed into me. I did my morning routine of stretches, inventory check, and gooch massage. By the time I was done, Minnie had fully awakened. We went over how to tackle the fortress, and she was puzzled by a word I used.

"What does defenestrate mean?" Minnie asked.

I promptly hucked myself out the window. I rolled across the sand and popped back to my feet. Minnie rushed out, and I explained, "You defenestrate people by throwing them out windows. You can self-defenestrate yourself to grow distance between you and enemies. Useful against hordes of zombies."

"Oh, cool! There's plenty of windows on the fortress. I'll do my best to defenestrate," Minnie promised. With the vocabulary session out of the way, we departed from the beach and headed into the resort.

There were no signs of lingering life, be it NPC or player. I felt relatively safe. Of course, it was all ruined when we got near the kart building and saw the flaming head of Sweet Cheeks, or Sweet Teeth...whatever his name is - I can't remember thanks to how scared I was. I saw him shaking hands with Asterion. Our favorite minotaur decided to go with a new skin today. He resembled one of those highland cows, with the shaggy haircut that covered his eyes. His clothes looked Greek, with a garment that only hung over one shoulder and then draped like a skirt. I barely picked up what they were saying to one another.

"Thanks again for all your help. We couldn't do it without you, bud," Asterion said with his sexy, heavy voice.

"Did you see the news yesterday?" the psycho clown asked.

"About Marathon and the race results? Yeah, it's bringing a lot of attention to this game."

"Which means more attention on you and Gamer. I've heard on the rumor mill that Dimitri is speaking out against your actions."

I did not recognize the name drop, but it appeared to fluster Asterion, "Great..."

"Watch your back, Asterion. That boy of yours is a greedy one," and after that ominous warning, Sweet Guy logged out.

My paralysis lifted and I moved over to Asterion, "Whaddup, Asterion? You're on early."

"Good morning, Asterion!" Minnie squeaked.

Our greeting jolted Asterion from his mental conundrum, "Morning, Gamer, Minnie. Yeah, things are crazy out in the real world. I figured I'd be the mailman and deliver the news."

"Mailman, eh? You got a special package for me?" I teased the big guy.

It helped chip more of his stress off, "Tch, maybe later. Right now, though, you should know that your bounty has been revoked."

"Revoked?"

"Isn't that good?" Minnie asked.

"You would think, but I have no idea. The raid idea and race failed to knock Gamer off his pedestal. The Game Masters and the council must be contemplating their next move," Asterion figured. "The quest to kill Gamer is gone, and from what online forums have put out, no more players will be invited to join Chanterelle."

"Scaredy-cats!" I insulted the gods of this world. "I rejoin the Million Point Club, it's how I is, and this is how they react?"

"How are you here, Asterion?" Minnie's ignorance of the real world was evident.

"Anybody with the invite code can still join, but I suspect anyone who witnessed the ass-whooping from yesterday will think twice about coming back."

"Sō janai to omoun dakedo. I only needed to think once," a feisty voice said from behind me. We all turned to see Sonia. Her outfit this time was a blue tank top, stretchy black pants that hugged the right amount, and one of those beanies that looked like an animal. Hers was a wolf, and the two flaps that hung from the side were its arms and paws. I sensed her furry energy and was too confused to understand, and too lazy to care.

"Wait, who's Sonia?" Persica interrupted my incredible storytelling. The audacity of this bitch.

Persica and Lord Shellie sat on the couch in the center of the room. Kammy and Qammy were pushed to the floor to make more space. Lord Shellie shared beers and popcorn as they listened to Gamer's recant.

"She's from our world. Energetic, cute, always trying to one up me. Now..." Gamer proceeded with the story.

Anyways, as I was saying, Sonia approached the group. Which put my guard up immediately, "Back so soon? Jumping at the chance to rechallenge me now that there's no competition?"

"Your bounty is revoked. Even if half your current high score would be great to earn, it'd be a headache and a half just to deal with you. I'm here for my own reasons," Sonia played with her beanie's paws.

"For Marathon?" Asterion guessed.

"I can clarify that for you," another voice materialized behind Asterion. We all turned our attention to two modern businessmen who logged in. One was an old cue ball, and the other was a dorky four-eyes.

"Am I just a problem magnet?" I demanded answers. Asterion and Minnie solemnly nodded at me, and I shrugged at their quiet honesty.

"Mr. Segan, the vice president of Marathon, and Nathaniel, one of the Game Masters of Chanterelle," Sonia introduced. The moment she mentioned Nathaniel's occupation, he had my undivided attention. He had on a wry smile, and nodded at my acknowledgement.

"We were hoping you'd show up soon, Sonia. We would have preferred doing this in person, but your immediate termination is necessary for our public image. Due to your actions from yesterday, you are officially no longer an affiliate of Marathon," Mr. Segan informed.

"Yeah, you made that clear yesterday morning," Sonia embraced the firing.

"Welcome to soloing!" Asterion stayed jovial. "Release the balloons!"

Minnie took out one balloon and released it into the air. It floated away with little grandiose. She shrugged, "That's all I had."

Sonia appreciated the acceptance. I, on the other hand, found the public display of douchebaggery curious, "Why bother even coming on here, then? You trying to make a show of force?"

"Something of the sort," Nathaniel crossed his hands behind his back.

"More of a verbal reprimanding, then anything. Sonia purposely went against the association's wishes. Such insubordination is intolerable in our workplace," Mr. Segan grumbled.

"You're just rubbing salt in the wound. Are you that petty?" Asterion argued. I agreed, and opened and closed my fly over and over in a show of my own force. That's when my zipper broke. I cursed under my breath and tried to fiddle it back on.

"I am. We at Marathon have built a successful community over decades of work," Mr. Segan practically growled. The more he furrowed his brow, the more I saw a bulldog talking, "Shade and Sonia were our lead figures. I won't even get started on how Gamer puts a fat, disgusting stain on gaming with his crimes and attitude, but my employees know to act better. To be better."

"The best; most Marathon followers would say," Sonia smugly said.

Mr. Segan zeroed in his poison, "You are such a disappointment. We had high aspirations for you, and you toss it away?! Stupid! Naive!"

Sonia withheld her emotions, but couldn't help sneering at the jerk, "If you can't handle the fast lane, move aside. I don't need to be judged by a poser like you. Kanarazu katsu!"

Mr. Segan barked a laugh, "We made you, Natsuki. Without us, you'd still be pulling in low numbers and ratings. We handed you success!"

His words started to upset Sonia. He must have noticed, because he droned on, "And let me tell you, you'll never be accepted by another association. I can make damn sure of..."

I blew Mr. Segan. I forcibly made my way over to the cue ball and pulled down his pants. His middle-aged cock flopped out and I performed the Moonlight Serenade on his clarinet. I didn't care how he felt; I wasn't going to let him speak down to people without repercussions.

"Woah, wait..." Lord Shellie and Persica were shocked at the twist. "You gave this guy a blowjob?"

Gamer slapped his forehead, "Oh, geez, no! That's not...I flubbed up. I didn't mean I blew him, I meant to say I blew him away. With this."

Gamer reintroduced to them the firearm. Persica and Lord Shellie were able to understand, "Oooh!"

"Sorry, rewind it back," Gamer swirled his index fingers in a cycle.

"And let me tell you, you'll never be accepted by another association. I can make damn sure of..."

I pulled out the Desert Eagle and put a bullet between the asshole's eyes. His head snapped back before digitizing instantly. I blew him away.

"Gamer!" Sonia gasped. Nathaniel reacted like a normal human being and gawked with his mouth and eyes. He put a fist up to his lips, and stifled some laughter.

"I was close to doing something myself," Asterion said, apparently at the same level of disgust I was at. Minnie had moved into a fighting stance, ready to rumble.

"I'm sorry, but I can't hear you over the sound of how mad I am right now!" I told everybody. I pointed my magnum at Nathaniel. He clamped his mouth shut and held up his hands. I asked, "What are you going to say to piss me off?"

"Nothing! A-actually, me and some of the Game Masters have come to enjoy your antics. We find your chaos fun! It's nice," Nathaniel pleaded with his hands.

I lowered my gun, but kept my glare strong and smoldering, "Answer our questions, then."

"Certainly!"

"Who the hell designs the enemies in Chanterelle? They must have played monster sim for too long and let the intrusive thoughts take control."

Nathaniel flashed a smirk, "Ah, well, that would be Herbert. The council gave us little time for adequate quality checks. Chanterelle is primarily designed for you to suffer for eternity. So, it's whatever came out of his noggin."

"Herbert..." I knew who my greatest enemy was.

"What about his bounty quest being cancelled? You or the council's idea?" Asterion wondered.

"The council's. They were adamant on not feeding anymore points to Gamer. You've thrown them for a loop," Nathaniel praised me.

"So what's the plan now?" I asked.

Nathaniel gazed up at Lord Shellie's fortress. He brought our attention to the Illuminati marker, "The council is asking us to throw everything at you. Math it out so you don't exceed three million points, but make it hard as all hell."

"Smart, but that's still a lot of points," Sonia admitted.

"Honestly, I'm excited," Nathaniel breathed carefully. It was as if he was trying to hold back excitement, "Will you be able to pull off another upset? What will the council do with another failure? The world is revolving, and I can't wait to see what happens next."

"Alright, alright, you're starting to be weird. Head out before I oopsies you like I did the Segan guy," I could care less what the world thought.

Nathaniel nodded, thanked us, and dipped out. I flipped the magnum a few times like a cool ocelot cat before putting it back in my inventory. Sonia asked me, "Why did you shoot Mr. Segan?"

"He's beneath you," I kept it simple. Sonia liked the response, but I was hooked on what Nathaniel said, "So, defeating Lord Shellie and whatever the Illuminati are planning won't earn me enough points."

"That's not a real concern," Asterion toiled with one of his bangs. "If we get Persica back, we'll have access to the stars."

"Let's rescue the princess!" Minnie jumped.

"Ditto! It's time to scale a volcano," I slapped my hands together and rubbed. I recalled Persica saying that the kart track led up to the fortress. Yet I hadn't seen a way up during the race. I knew right then and there, Persica had lied to me.

"Excuse me?" Persica sliced a glare into Gamer.

"That's slander. We should sue," Lord Shellie advised with a mouthful of popcorn.

"Okay, okay, it's possible we missed a turn going at one hundred miles an hour. But - and it's a big butt - that doesn't change the fact we didn't know where to go," Gamer shrugged.

"Then how did you get here?"

As I was saying...well, actually, it was Sonia who did the saying, "Mind if I join you?"

My squad and I collectively wondered, "Why?"

"You knocked me out of the Million Point Club. I need to get my score back up. If Nathaniel spoke the truth, then there's going to be plenty of pickings for all of us. I bet I can reach Lord Shellie before you. Competition makes everything better," Sonia sold.

"Hmm, I dunno..." I utilized skepticism. Even if I didn't have to worry about her stabbing me in the back, I voiced my concern, "You're actually competent. That just makes it harder for me to get the wish."

"I'll share my french fries with you," Sonia held up a cup of sticked potatoes.

"God McDammit, you're in!" I couldn't refuse such a sublime offer. We dapped and I acquired the ambrosia.

"You're hopeless..." Asterion sighed.

He was obviously jealous. I needed to help my buddy by distracting him with a question, "Is the Rapsutin still in working order?"

Asterion nodded, but suggested, "Why don't we just fly up there? From what Sweet Heart told me, they are still functional. It'll be easier than driving."

"They'll see us coming if we fly," Minnie brought up the cons. "The fort will be heavily protected, and the moment they see us coming, they'll rain spears, bobs, and billies at us."

"Which is why we dive in hot and fast," Sonia used her hands to insinuate the plan. "It'll be like throwing a flashbang in SWAT. Don't give the enemy a chance to shoot, and you won't get shot."

"Your logic is sound, but what about an escape plan if things fall apart?" Asterion asked.

"My life is too interesting for escape plans. Just don't get hit, gozonji no tōri," Sonia said matter-of-factly.

Minnie said, "If I can get my hands on a blue shell, I'll be set. Nothing would be able to hurt me."

All eyes fell on me. I contemplated the pros and cons. I had to carefully consider everything. A single mistake meant the end of it all. The plane idea was reckless, dangerous, and insane. I'd never flown a plane before, in or out of video games.

So we totally did that shit.

We took to the air expecting some ace combat. The planes were rudimentary, but operational. Asterion struggled with his plane, and I blame the control's shitty reverse steering. I'm pretty sure it was that and not the crappy, burping mess his plane sounded like halfway up the mountain. Because the moment we arrived, that dude just nosedived into the fortress wall.

Sonia, that adrenaline junkie, did a bunch of tricks in the plane around the fortress tops. We expected to be attacked, but nothing was there. No enemies, no turrets, no quick-time events - nada. Thus, Sonia did some speedrunner shit where she launched herself from the plane and through a window. Her plane crashed into the fortress wall.