The deafening sound of celebration rang all across Chanterelle. Every viewer gave a standing or jumping ovation. Confetti fell from the skies, but it came with some confusion. The tie spread across media outlets and had people questioning what happens next.
Asterion took the driver's seat in Ego. Minnie and him drove forward towards the finish line.
Past the finish line, Gamer and Sonia found themselves on the beach again. They were near the huts they stayed in the previous night. The sun closed in on the horizon, but the day still had a few hours to it.
Sonia sat up and held her head. It thrummed with pain, as she hit the ground hard enough to snap a neck. What helped mediate the impact was Gamer. She recalled him pulling out a broom after crossing the finish line. He sat up and grabbed the aforementioned item, which lay next to him. He slipped the household object into his inventory.
"A tie...just our luck," Gamer grumbled.
Sonia checked her character screen to confirm it. Her high score didn't raise or lower. The tie refunded the points wagered, and everybody broke even. She giggled, "Man, what a rush, though. I've not felt like that in a long time. Arigato, Gamer."
"You're ballsy, I'll give you that. You're not like most other players. You're the real friggin' deal!"
"That means a lot coming from somebody who cracked two million points," Sonia winked. They both lounged on their butts and elbows. The climax of the race took a lot out of them.
"Is that what you're really after?"
"Da."
"What's your wish going to be?"
Sonia liked his insinuation, "To close down all the zoos in the world, or convert them to sanctuaries. Animals don't deserve to be locked up and put on display like trophies."
"Shit, I can't even argue against it. Respectable."
"Thanks, and you?"
"Getting back to my sister. I'm the only one who can help her."
"That's beautiful," Sonia already knew, but heard the sincerity in his voice. They stared for a moment, and favored silence to read.
"You hate that it's a tie, don't you?" Gamer grinned.
"You do, too," Sonia mirrored him.
"You know what that means..." Gamer took to his feet and glared towards the blue blur.
Their kindred spirits fist bumped, and she knew what he meant. She pushed herself up and agreed, "Hell yeah, I do."
"Tiebreaker!" they both declared.
A lackatoe flew overhead and clued in the rest of the world to the grand finale. Sonia's name reverberated from the audience in attendance, and all across the streams. They stood behind their hero to defeat the greatest cheater the world's ever seen. They believed in her. A few dissenters rallied behind Gamer, but were drowned out by the overwhelming support for the Marathon mascot.
Sonia pulled out the rest of her gems; three in total. She released them and they spun around her in an orbital formation. Gamer knew what they entailed and needed his own counter. He pulled out his tanuki tail. When the gems all came together and merged with Sonia, she didn't just glow. Her whole body shined with golden energy. Her black and blue hair became golden, her racer suit turned gold, and her skin sparkled as if covered by gold dust.
Sonia ran, but when she did, the naked eye couldn't keep track of her. She left behind a gold streak of light in her wake. She was three times faster than sound, breaking the sound barrier with each turn she made. She cycled around Gamer in a display of power.
"I'll give you a chance to forfeit, Gamer. Anybody who can keep up with me earns my respect," Sonia said in surround sound.
"Nah," Gamer ate the tail.
"You can't 'nah' me, baka!"
"Nuh uh!"
"Durak!" his words sliced at her pride. She wasn't going to stand for it. She zipped towards him, but his tanuki bodysuit formed.
"Careful!" Talis warned. Sonia diverted, and the switch up caused a sonic boom to bluster the winds around Gamer.
"I told you..." Gamer grinned. The tanuki hood covered his head, and his magical balls hoisted him from the ground. Tanuki Gamer gestured for the golden blur to come at him, "...I'm not losing."
"Are those his balls?" Sonia raised an eyebrow.
Talis refocused his player, "Listen, Sonia, you may be practically untouchable in that form, but if you're hit..."
"I know, I know..." Sonia barely registered. She was so close to winning. So close to entering the annals of history as the greatest speedrunner in the world. No chances.
Talis navigated, "Lemme find out what that power up does and..."
Samira appeared, "Hey, there, sweetie (˵ •̀ ᴗ - ˵ ) ✧"
"|ง •̀_•́|ง Why I oughta..." Talis and Samira started their last text-based battle.
Sonia didn't even care. Her nerves went on the fritz and her adrenaline peaked. Her vision blurred and heart overclocked. Every inch of her went numb with excitement.
Gamer didn't move, but he stared forward. Anticipating. Centered.
If she was going to strike, it had to be now. Sonia darted a couple more times, concussing the sand and the huts nearby, and creating gusts of wind. She sped towards Gamer from the side.
"Now!" Samira, who used the Talis battle to read Sonia, called to Gamer.
Gamer turned into a statue just as Sonia slammed into him. The invincibility, just as with Shade, rebuked Sonia and knocked her out of her golden state. Her gems scattered across the beach as she went flying backwards into a hut. However, the force of Sonia's power broke through the invincibility. It shattered the statue form and defeated the tanuki suit. Gamer flew backwards and landed on the shoreline. They equalized each other.
The shockwave from their collision knocked the nearby lackatoe flying. It plunged into the water, and the world was blind to the finale a second time.
Samira and Talis (・Д・) |๑°o°๑|
Gamer's body tingled, from both the attack and the wake washing against him. He laughed out loud at the ridiculousness.
The upper half of Sonia's body hung out of the broken wall of the hut. She busted a gut at the absurdity.
The fight was a draw.
Gamer recovered first. Sonia stayed downed, and watched him approach. He pocketed his hands and casually said, "How's it hanging?"
"So-so," Sonia matched his energy. They were both tired, nearly lethargic. Sonia unzipped her bodysuit down to her naval to let the coastal wind hit her sweaty body, "Nuckolls is going to be upset that I wasted all five of my gems on you."
"I'm sad I didn't get to try one," Gamer feigned tears. He became distracted by her cleavage.
"You have some weird powers. Were those your balls?" Sonia still couldn't get them out of her head.
"Yeah, blame the devs. They're a bunch of weirdos."
Sonia giggled, "Takes one to know one."
Gamer became cynical at the tone she used, "And you would know?"
Sonia glanced over at the neighboring hut, and shrugged, "Wanna fuck? First to cum loses, and if we tie again, at least we had some real fun."
"I'm sensing a trap," Samira worried about another Mandy incident.
"Sure," Gamer immediately answered and ignored his sister's ᯣ_ᯣ
Gamer offered his rival a hand and helped her up. They cruised over to the other hut, all the while undoing the purpose of their clothes. By the time they stepped into the hut, Sonia's bodysuit was around her thighs and Gamer's belt came free from his waist.
"Banking her career on having sex. Why am I not surprised? She's probably turned on by the thought alone," Talis breathed a laugh.
"I've gathered it's a flex thing. NDEs make people horny," Samira ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
"Say, you want to get a private chatroom and nerd out while they're busy? The way you navigate is really interesting."
"Slay! Want to learn how to hack the FBI?"
"Bet!" Talis and Samira left to do their own mingling.
***
Nathaniel replayed highlights from the race and fight on the video boards. They were edited for maximal entertainment. The masses interacted with it, shared their own clips on social media, and reported what happened. The buzz made the Game Master elated at the attention brought to their world. Even if this meant more trouble for them and Gamer, the chaos was affectionate.
Asterion and Minnie arrived at the beach. They left Ego next to the finish line and hoofed it over to the huts to find Gamer and Sonia. The parted and kicked up sand indicated where they landed, but neither racer was there.
"Let's split up," Asterion suggested.
"Okay! I'll continue down the beach. Maybe they went back into the resort," Minnie volunteered.
As the shellie peeled off, Asterion eyeballed the ruined huts. He investigated these, but didn't see or hear anything until he drew close to the first intact hut. He picked up the soft moans coming from inside. He treaded carefully over and listened through the wall.
"Yamate, Gamer. You can't do this to me. Please..." Sonia busted out the innocent pleading voice. Asterion knew it for the act it was; she'd used it on him the previous evening. She gently whimpered, "Yamate, yamate, yamate..."
"I can't..." Gamer hissed through his teeth. It sounded like he was on the edge. They were in the throes of passion.
"Go ahead. Irete hoshii...cum for me, Gamer," Sonia's voice sounded hypnotic. Instructional.
"No, I mean I can't cum..." Gamer's strained voice leveled out. Asterion could practically hear the guy's cocky grin.
"Eh?" Sonia's seduction turned to confusion.
"I fucked a bunch of moles the other day. My balls are broken, bitch!"
"Nani?!" Sonia gasped.
The turnaround of control changed everything. Sonia loudly expressed the sudden overstimulation. Her gasps became shallow. She called foul.
"This isn't fair. If you can't cum, that means you can't lose..." Sonia faintly spoke.
Gamer claimed, "You're taking on a cheater, remember? Watashi wa no baka!"
"You...just called yourself...an idiot..." Sonia couldn't believe the irony. She couldn't escape. He overpowered and outplayed her. She couldn't win. She grunted, "Ya seychas konchu!!"
Asterion stepped away from the hut. He left them alone with their climax. He headed into the resort to help Minnie 'search' for Gamer and Sonia.
Inside the hut, Gamer fell backwards into the chair by the table. He caught his breath and wiped sweat from his forehead. It didn't do much, considering how matted his body was. Sonia laid flat on her back on the bed. She draped an arm over her face to block her expression. Her body buzzed and her lungs demanded more oxygen. Gamer made her see stars.
Sonia lost.
Gamer wagged his glistening coat of stiffy victory like a taunt, "Whew, finally. That was a lot more difficult than it needed to be. I see why you're one of the best in Marathon."
"I can't believe I lost, after everything," Sonia opened her character screen and checked her high score. It sat at a measly six hundred thousand.
"You'll do fine. I've been in the same position before. Considering how talented you are, I suspect you'll pass the Total High Score in a year or two."
"It could be faster if I stuck my neck out like you did. But that means I'd have to be a dirty cheater," Sonia made an ugly face at him.
"You won't need to in order to reach the goal," Gamer dabbed his wet fingertip on his tongue.
A small part of Sonia liked how both Asterion and Gamer actually cared about her dream. She blushed, "That's too kind, Gamer. I'm supposed to hate you."
"Nothing's stopping you. Asterion wants to ring my neck every so often."
Sonia started to notice something human about this cheater, "Live and let live, I always say. I knew the risks when I accepted the Chanterelle invitation. Besides, your wish is noble. What's the story behind that, anyways?"
"Ah, well, it's a long tale. I'll tell you between this chapter and the next."
"Ladno," Sonia shrugged. She eyeballed Gamer's cock. The warmth inside her echoed like an aching itch. She cracked a smile, "Want to take me around for lap two? It's..."
A heavy rumbling cut Sonia short. Gamer and her sprang to their feet the moment the walls started to crack. They tossed on their clothes and dashed out onto the beach.
The trees and ocean waves quivered. The audience stands were empty at this point, and the video boards were dead. Gamer saw Asterion and Minnie running over to join them. Before words could be exchanged, a cacophonous bang perforated the air. It drew their attention to the volcano top. Smoke swirled up into the darkened clouds summoned by Shade, which now lingered above the volcano. An object spun in circles over Lord Shellie's fortress like a marker. Its shape was a bunch of triangular lights, and had a rainbow iridescence to it.
"What's that?" Sonia raised an eyebrow.
"Ohmygodit'stheIlluminati!" Gamer quickly sputtered.
"Shut up," Asterion grumbled at his friend.
"I know what that is..." Minnie furrowed her brow. "I don't know the exact details, but Lord Shellie mentioned a man who carried that symbol on the back of his hand."
Nothing sounded wrong, but the atmosphere disagreed. Asterion asked, "Why do you sound so ominous?"
"Lord Shellie told us to never interact with such a person. A man from the land of Highrule."
"I suspect the rulers of Highrule smoke a whole bunch of things and are always high," Gamer guessed.
"No, they just live north of Chanterelle. They're higher up on the maps," Minnie corrected. Gamer threw his hands up in disbelief.
Sonia, curious as well, asked, "Who is this specific man?"
"He holds many titles. The Looksmaxxing King – the Ultimate Incarnation of Pro Gaming – the Wicked Man of Getting Gud..." Minnie listed out all the nicknames this monster had.
Sonia noticed a pattern, "Didn't Shade say some of this stuff..."
Gamer glared up at the Illuminati symbol and the evil storm. The names and power of this individual intrigued Gamer, but he sounded like a huge headache. Whatever happened with Shade, and whatever his father attempted at, spelled trouble for the group. Persica was at Lord Shellie's fortress, too, and still needed to be rescued.
Gamer asked, "Who is he?"
Minnie gulped, "Gamindorf."