by Dante Steel
“If we don’t hurry and find her and she finds Smaug, there might not be a next time,” Gary warned.
They reached the topside, and Gary immediately took to the sky to glance all around. He spied a small silver figure heading in the general direction of the wizard.
Gary touched down and started to run. “Come on!”
The other two kept pace with him, and they managed to catch up to Elena easily enough, which was a good thing.
The wizard wasn’t there, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Instead, Smaug was there, which definitely was a bad thing.
The supervillain eyed them all in turn. “You all have proven to be rather resilient,” Smaug said.
Was that a hint of respect in his voice? Nah, Gary had to be hearing things.
“If you want us to join the dark side, you can forget it!” Elena shouted.
“Keep your cookies!” Olivia added.
Gary blinked a few times. This really wasn’t the time for jokes. Then again, Smaug was smiling.
“How cute. You all must be dear, close friends. Am I right?”
Elena stiffened.
“Ah, is there trouble in paradise?” Smaug glided forward.
Gary really fucking hated the wizard. Why the hell couldn’t Jorge have continued to play? He was a wizard, too. Maybe he could’ve mastered all of these elements too. Maybe he could have defeated Smaug singlehandedly by now, but no, Jorge had to fall in love and forget all about his friend.
Smaug stopped inches in front of Elena and cupped her chin. “Look at me. Yes. I can see your pain.”
“Get your hands off her!” Gary shouted.
“Or what? You’ll kill me? You’ve tried already. You’ve failed. Do you know what the definition of insanity is? Doing the same thing over and over again but expecting—”
“It’s not insane if you get different results,” Gary said.
“How noble. No. That’s not the word I want. How naïve.” Smaug scowled as he shoved Elena’s chin to the side and released his hold on her. The, the supervillain stretched out his neck.
“Can we cut through all of this pointless chatter already?” Nicoletta asked. “Let’s just cut to the chase and do this.”
“Always hot to temper, aren’t you? A little sparkplug but without much spark, I’m afraid. You bore me.”
Nicoletta opened her mouth, and a blast of fire burst out. Her entire body trembled, and she held out her hands toward Smaug, too. Flames burst out of her hands even stronger than ever before.
Power upgrade? Maybe.
Gary grinned. The sand here had been baking in the sun. It was hard and compacted, almost like rocks. He yanked some from the ground, but instead of throwing them at the supervillain, Gary reached inside the sand-rocks and burst them apart. Tiny shards of darted sand-rocks flew everywhere. Gary redirected all of them to head straight for Smaug.
They bounced off his armor though and fell harmlessly to the ground. Damn it. Worse, the fire just made Smaug laugh. Given that he had fire himself, the fire wasn’t going to hurt him any.
With a wild yell, Elena started forward. Gary wanted to yank her back, to stop her, to make her fly and keep her safe, but there wasn’t time. Besides, deep down, he knew she would have resented him for it, but they were being stupid. Without a plan, they would all die, and fighting him all one-by-one would never get it done.
Before Elena could land one punch, Smaug held out his hand. A plume of blue smoke appeared, and suddenly, Elena was turned to ice. All of her. Head to toe. Her fist was outstretched, less than a foot from Smaug’s face.
For a second, everything seemed to be frozen. Gary didn’t know what to do. What to think. How to feel. But then, everything snapped back into place, and he shoved Smaug back with every ounce of his telekinetic powers. Smaug shifted maybe an inch.
“Nicoletta,” Gary called.
“On it.”
“Olivia?” Gary asked.
The flier took to the air, and she called up Smaug. She had been a flier first, and her flight prowess was stronger and more developed than Gary’s was. Olivia was able to lift him off the ground some. Gary, instead, was keeping a massive forcefield around Elena. If she shattered… No. That would not happen! Nicoletta would thaw her. Nicoletta wouldn’t heat her too quickly. Nicoletta was smart. She knew what she had to do.
Gary hoped.
The effect of maintaining the forcefield required everything that Gary had. He couldn’t help fight Smaug, but then, Smaug wasn’t fighting much. He was toying with Olivia. He was lazily pointing at her, throwing fire or ice at his leisure.
If only there was a way to bounce his spells back on him.
Maybe there was.
But those rinky-dink spells he was tossing at Olivia wouldn’t faze him. No, they needed to taunt him into using a huge spell. A massive one. If they could send that back on him, maybe, just maybe, they really could end this once and for all. They could be rid of the blight that was Smaug in the game world and Samuel August in the real world.
First and foremost, though, they needed Elena back. She might not be able to help with deflecting any of his spells, but maybe she could be the bait they needed to get Smaug to unleash a large enough power to be reflected back onto himself.
“Any luck?” Gary muttered.
“I… I think so,” Nicoletta grumbled. “It’s hard to tell. I can’t risk burning her, and I can’t thaw her too fast.”
“I know. Just be careful.”
“I’m trying!”
As tempted as Gary was to attack Smaug immediately, he couldn’t risk diverting any of his power or attention from his forcefield. He had to protect Elena at all costs, even at the risk of his own life.
Smaug, by now, seemed to have grown bored of teasing Olivia and was trying to attack her more in earnest. Olivia was soaring, tumbling, freefalling, doing anything and everything to avoid being blasted by his fire or his ice. At one point, she dove between his legs, and she swung around to his backside and grabbed his cape and flung it over his eyes.
Abruptly, a blast of fire flew over Gary’s shoulder. Nicoletta had sent a blast of fire right at Smaug. He cape caught on fire, but he banished the fire with a wave of his hand, and he flicked his cape back.
“You’ll pay for that,” he remarked coldly.
Behind him, Gary heard a slight groan. Elena. He shoved a potion into Nicoletta’s hand and took flight. Honestly, Gary couldn’t tell anyone what possessed him to do this, but he uppercut Smaug, flying up high, his fist still beneath Smaug’s chin. Then, Gary flipped them around. He latched onto Smaug’s shirt, and he propelled the supervillain straight down to the hard-packed sand. Smaug was going to crash right into it.
Only Smaug wiggled free somehow at the last moment, and Gary was the one to get a face full of sand.
Immediately, Gary jumped to his feet. “Come on, Smaug. You gotta do better than that.”
“That’s right,” Elena said. “I’m back and better than ever.”
“You know it, baby!” Olivia called.
Elena grinned.
Gary was so damn happy. For once, it seemed as if the potion had worked entirely. He had been worried how Elena’s metal arms and joints would hold up after the exposure to the sudden coldness and then the intense heat, but she seemed to be just fine.
Smaug glowered at them. Gary motioned Olivia and Nicoletta over, and the four of them stared him down.
“Hold your ground,” Gary muttered. Out loud, he called, “You want us? Come and get us!”
Smaug flew up high above them and rained down ice and fire. Gary’s forcefield blocked them all… or did it? Somehow, Gary knew just what to do, and his forcefield didn’t just deflect the magical blows. No, it absorbed them.
“Can’t you do better than that?” Nicoletta called. “I have more fireworks than that!”
Smaug took the bait. He blasted the forcefield with a massive fireball that nearly did tear through.
“I don’t
know about that ice,” Elena said. “I think that was a fluke.”
The ice chunk he threw was more like an ice boulder. That was what Gary sent back on Smaug. It bounced off the forcefield, but Gary sent the forcefield along with it. The ice boulder collided with Smaug, and the forcefield wrapped around him, and all of the fire and ice Smaug had sent recoiled through him and off the forcefield, bouncing and pinging time and again. Smaug’s body shook violently, trembling as if seizing, and then, he fell to the ground with a thud. A small cloud of dust rose up and then settled back down over him like a blanket.
Or like a funeral shroud.
Gary walked over first. The ladies trailed behind him.
“Is he dead?” Olivia whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” Elena asked.
“I don’t know. Respect for the dead?”
“He doesn’t deserve respect,” Nicoletta said.
Gary eyed Smaug suspiciously. The supervillain’s chest wasn’t rising or falling.
“He’s dead,” he said.
“You mean we did it? We honestly did it this time?” Nicoletta asked.
“I can’t believe it,” Elena said.
“You can’t believe it? Girl, you were covered in ice! I thought we lost you!” Olivia went to hug her and then pulled back before she touched her. “Wait. Can I hug you?”
“Yes,” Elena said with a laugh.
“Girl, you aren’t even cold! Your metal is warm. That’s so nice.”
“I said you could hug me, not feel me up.”
“I’m just touching your arm!”
“You’re petting me.”
“Petting, touching. Same difference.”
Elena just shook her head. Her smile was wide.
Nicoletta bent beside Smaug’s corpse. “I can’t believe he’s dead.”
“Me neither.” Gary stared up at the sky. It all seemed so surreal. An end to an era.
Yet it also seemed wrong, too. They had argued about this, saying it was self-defense and not murder. Even so, Gary felt responsible. The vampires, the dragons, the supervillains, that had all been a part of the game. That had been different. This, this was more personal. They had killed a human.
“We did the right thing, yes?” he asked.
“We did what we had to in order to survive,” Nicoletta said grimly.
“Does that make it right?” he asked.
“In this case, yes.”
He nodded. “Thank you, Nicoletta.”
“For saving Elena? I did that for her, not you.”
“Not just for that. For everything.”
“Oh. Anytime.” She hugged him.
“I think we need to get back to the tavern,” Olivia said. “Drinks on me!”
Chapter Thirty
Gary couldn’t remember the last time he had gotten this drunk. When the other gamers had learned what they had done, what he had done, they bought shot after shot after shot. The gamers eventually left because it was getting late, but neither Olivia or Nicoletta made comments about having to go.
He felt lighter than air. That guilt he had felt earlier? That was gone. He couldn’t wait for it to be night. Elena had to be right. Haru would let them go back home. He was just waiting until the moment was right. You know what? Haru never talked to him when anyone else was around. Maybe Gary should sneak away and go see a man about a horse. No. No, go see Haru about going home. Yes, that was what he should do.
Gary stood and had to sit back down again. He even had to put his leg out.
“What are you doing?” Nicoletta asked.
“The room’s spinning for you, ain’t it?” Olivia asked. She giggled and slapped her hand on the bar. “Gary’s drunk!”
“So are you,” he accused. “And you aren’t even drinking shots of ale.”
“I think it’s so stupid they gave you shots of ale to drink when they give you entire glasses filled with it,” she said.
“I have been drinking shots and glasses,” Gary said, slurring slightly. “Why do you think I’m so drunk?”
“I can’t drink this.” Nicoletta shoved her last shot aside.
Olivia grabbed it and drained it.
“Are you part sailor?” Elena asked.
“Never been sailing.” Olivia eyed the last shot.
Elena handed it over.
Olivia drank it and rested her head on the bar. “The place really is spinning.”
“You okay?” Elena asked.
“I just…” Olivia’s eyes closed.
“She’s passed out back at my place,” Nicoletta said.
“Do you think it’s safe to leave her here?” Elena asked.
“Yeah. Like I said, she’s fine here.”
“I’m going to bed,” Gary announced. He stood and stumbled.
Elena rushed to stand and wrapped an arm around his waist. “Let me help you. Whoa! Slow now.”
“Let me help, too.” Nicoletta took his other side.
“Thank you,” Gary muttered. “I love you both so much.”
“We know,” Nicoletta said.
They entered the room. Elena closed the door behind them.
Gary scratched himself.
“Do you have to do that?” Elena asked.
“When you have an itch…”
“Yeah, but…” She glanced away.
Gary tried to readjust, but he just couldn’t get comfortable. He was just too hard.
Nicoletta eyed him and then Elena. “I…”
Elena sat on the edge of the bed. “I sure hope I don’t regret this in the morning.”
“No regrets. No. You can’t.” Gary shook his head.
Elena nodded, stood, and began to strip.
Gary’s eyes widened. “What are you… No. No regrets, remember?”
“No regrets,” Elena murmured. She reached for his clothes.
“Umm…” Nicoletta said.
“You can stay,” Elena said.
Nicoletta didn’t say anything. She helped to undress Gary, and then she undressed herself.
Gary could hardly believe this. “Are you sure? Are you both sure? I don’t want… We’ve had a lot to drink…”
Elena swallowed hard and took Gary’s hand. “Do I feel like I’m sure?”
She was so fucking wet. Gary’s cock jumped. He was sure.
He turned to Nicoletta. She nodded, and he touched her, too. It was impossible to say who was wetter.
Nicoletta stretched and flopped onto the end of the bed. Her legs were hanging off the side, touching the ground. Gary eyed Elena, who nodded.
If she was sure…
Gary slid into Nicoletta easily. God, this was a fucking dream come true.
“Please,” Nicoletta whimpered.
But Gary didn’t want to leave Elena out of it, and he stood there for a few seconds, unsure what to do. He wasn’t an expert by any means on this. In dreams, yes, but this was real. So real.
He motioned Elena to come over. She approached and kissed him, but he didn’t want to have his lips there. No, he had something else in mind.
With ease, he lifted her up and had her legs draped down his back. He buried his face between her legs, one hand on the small of Elena’s back to keep her balanced. The other hand gripped Nicoletta’s perfect ass as he pounded her deep inside. Gary seriously felt as if he had died and gone to heaven. Death by orgasm would not be the worst way to go out. Not at all.
He wasn’t sure which of them came first, but they all did and multiple times before finally crawling into bed to sleep for the night.
Gary woke feeling deliciously sore and ridiculously happy. He opened his eyes to see that Elena wasn’t there, but Nicoletta was. They were both naked.
Last night really had happened… right?
Her eyes cracked open, and she smiled at him.
“Hey, you,” he whispered.
“Hey,” she murmured. “Last night… that was incredible.”
“No regrets?”
She shook her head. “None
. Elena and I talked a little. She’s getting us breakfast. She doesn’t regret it either. You don’t have to worry.”
Gary exhaled. “Thank God. I was worried.”
“We knew.”
“But it felt right. Didn’t it feel right?”
“It did.” Nicoletta nodded. “It really did.
There was something different about her, something incredibly familiar. Realization hit him like a thunderbolt.
“Gary,” she said, sounding alarmed. “Don’t freak out.”
“Don’t freak out? Don’t freak out? What the fuck did you do, Nicoletta? Why the hell are you in the game, too?”
“Because I had to. Gary, I didn’t have a choice.”
“Fuck.” He ran a hand through his hair. How the hell could things have been so utterly perfect and now come crashing down all around him?
Because that’s your life, Gary. It sucks.
Shifter Hunter
Chapter One
Gary Johnson wanted to rip his hair out of his head. How the hell was this his life?
First, he had somehow got transported into Superheroes Online. Granted, he met, befriended, and fell in love with three amazing, super-hot chicks, but seriously. He. Was. In. A. Game.
Second, one of those super-hot girls, Elena Pompilii, crossed over into the game, too. The developers of Superheroes Online were trying to figure out how to get them out. Clearly, entering it was easier than leaving.
Third, well, he couldn’t forget that another human had entered, too. Samuel August, AKA Smaug, AKA destroyer of gaming fun, grade-A asshole, and a murderer in real life. At least they had killed the motherfucker. That had been insane.
Fourth and most recently, another one of those super-hot girls, Nicoletta Rodriquez, the only one he knew in the real world and a cousin to one of Gary’s closest friends, had entered the game.
Well, one more. Fifth, Gary didn't realize Nicoletta was in the game until after he had a threesome with her and Elena. Or maybe she had entered the game after that amazing fucking. Simply astounding. Mind-blowing.
Gary had never had a threesome before, and he couldn’t wait to have one again. Or maybe an orgy with Olivia, the third girl.
