Rebirth Online 2

by Michael James Ploof

  “We’ve been waiting for you, Sam,” said another of the women as she slowly slid her fingers between her legs and moaned softly.

  My dick told me it was party time, but my brain told me turn around and haul ass out of there. Images of Tweak tied to a saltire and being whipped by his demonic mistress sobered me quickly, and I waved at the ladies and turned around.

  “Sorry to bother you,” I said and hurried to the nearest turn.

  “Where are you going, Samson?” came the pouty reply.

  “Please, Samson, we’ve been waiting so long for a real man.”

  Don’t turn around Sam, don’t look back, just keep walking, I said to myself.

  I left the horny demons behind and wandered for another fifteen minutes before coming to yet another dead end. This one didn’t have a bed like the other, but a bubbling circular pool. When I saw who sat soaking in it, I nearly fell over.

  “Hello Sam…”

  It was Penny Hawthorne, my high school crush. She had been two grades ahead of me and I don’t think that she even knew that I existed, but now, here she was in front of me with a mischievous grin on her beautiful face.

  She stood up in the pool, and I gulped. Her breasts were small and perky, with dark brown areolas and erect nipples. She took a step up the stairs leading out of the pool and I saw that she was completely hairless below the waist. My eyes instinctively darted to her tight slit, and the image of my high school crush standing naked before me lit a fire of passion inside my loins that was hard to ignore.

  “Oh Sam,” Penny said alluringly as she touched herself. “Come inside, the water is so nice.”

  I took a step forward, unable to take my eyes off her amazing body. She offered me a delicious grin and turned, offering me a view of her beautiful ass. For a moment I forgot that I was in the Underworld. I wanted nothing more than to take Penny right there in the pool, to bring to life my teenage fantasies.

  Penny reached for me as I approached and pulled me closer. Our lips met, and my passion surged. My hands traveled over her breasts, down her back, and cupped her plump ass—and that’s when I felt the leathery tail.

  I pulled back and realized that Penny had changed into a grinning succubus.

  “I can be anyone you want, Sammy.”

  I pushed away from the succubus, cursing myself for falling for her spell, but she wasn’t going to let me go so easily. She grabbed ahold of me and leapt into the air as her wings spread wide. I instinctively gripped her tight as we rose over the tall maze walls. We floated high above the smooth red walls and I saw firsthand the grandeur of the maze. It was at least 5 miles wide and just as long, and inside the long red corridors I could see other players meandering about, as well as the traps that lay in wait.

  I considered stabbing the succubus with my sword, but the fall was nearly one-hundred feet, and I didn’t think such a fall would end well for me, besides, I needed to get out of the maze. The succubus flew over the edge of the maze with me pressed tight against her, and I waited until she landed to make my move. Once we touched down, I pushed her away and performed the hand gestures to bring up my fire shield.

  “Back off, bitch!” I said as my fire shield blazed to life.

  The succubus clutched her chest and stepped back, looking hurt. “Why would you say such a thing?”

  “I know what you’re up to, lady, and I don’t have time to play sex slave right now,” I told her as I glanced around at my surroundings.

  She had landed us on a natural shelf overlooking the giant maze, and behind her I could see numerous openings that led into dark tunnels.

  “I pulled you out of the Forever Maze, and this is the thanks that I get?” she said crossing her arms over her crimson breasts angrily. “Well fuck you, Samson Sullivan.”

  “Wait, how do you know my name?”

  She scoffed. “Everyone knows who you are. You’re the one who defeated Kincaid and sent him into the Underworld. Thanks to you, he’s now the most powerful being in the entire realm.”

  “You pulled me out of the maze,” I said carefully. “Why?”

  “Why?” she said with a laugh, as though the answer should be apparent. “Because I want out of this hell hole. And if anyone can get me out of here, then it’s you.”

  “Sooo, you don’t want to make me your eternal sex slave?”

  She grinned wickedly. “The thought had crossed my mind. But no, that is not my intention. I want to help you, and in return I want out.”

  “Can you help me find my friends?” I asked.

  She nodded. “Of course.”

  I didn’t know whether to trust her or not, but I really didn’t have many options. I could tell her to piss off and try to maneuver the Underworld on my own, but I knew little about this place, and I had no allies.

  “What’s your name?” I asked.

  “Nanaya,” she responded.

  “That’s a beautiful name,” I said, hoping to turn the tables.

  “Thank you,” she said coyly.

  “Uh, do you like have any clothes?” I asked with a small laugh. “It’s kind of hard to concentrate when you’re naked.”

  She grinned at me and allowed me the amazing view for a few more seconds, before snapping her fingers. When she did so, a black leather skirt and bikini top appeared on her body.

  “Better?” she asked.

  “Yes, thank you.”

  Lightning illuminated the churning red clouds overhead, and Nanaya glanced up with concern.

  “We should move on,” she said and moved toward one of the tunnels.

  I investigated the darkness of the tunnel warily, and Nanaya noticed the look.

  “Are you going to trust me or not?” she asked.

  I looked up at the churning sky, glanced back at the maze, and let out a sigh. “Alright, here’s the deal. You help me find my friends, and I’ll do everything that I can to get you out of here. Deal?”

  “Deal,” she said happily.

  I followed her into the darkness and the pungent stink of sulfur hit me like a punch in the nose. The smell had been faint in the maze, but now it was hard to escape. Nanaya glanced back at me, noticing my discomfort, and asked what was wrong.

  “The smell,” I said covering my nose.

  “Oh, that, you’ll get used to it,” she assured me.

  The tunnel opened wider as we went, and Nanaya whispered a word in a language foreign to me. A second later, a small fire sprang from her extended right hand. The flickering flame played against the dark red tunnel walls, and I saw long scratch marks there in the stone, along with what looked to be fingernails embedded in the cracks. I glanced at Nanaya again, second guessing the wisdom of my choice to follow her. But I was already committed, and although I couldn’t tell what level she was, I was confident that I could handle her if push came to shove.

  “Just a little further ahead the tunnel opens up,” the beautiful succubus explained. “Beyond is the Dungeon of Remorse. Let me do the talking, and don’t let anyone sense your fear.”

  “Who said I was afraid?” I replied with as much bravado as I could muster.

  She glanced back and offered me a knowing grin and continued down the long tunnel.

  “So, what’s it like living down here?” I asked.

  “It was a lot better under Baalzaton,” she said, and seeing that I didn’t recognized the name, she added, “He was the previous dark lord.”

  “Gotcha.”

  “Now that Kincaid has risen to power it really sucks. He’s hell bent on invading the surface world, and he’s forcing everyone to join his army.”

  “I thought that you wanted to get to the surface world.”

  “I do,” she said. “But I don’t want to turn it into a nightmare like Kincaid plans on doing. I want to go to the surface world because it’s the opposite of this smoldering shithole.”

  “Makes sense,” I said, still not knowing if she was an NPC or not. She sure seemed human, but the NPC’s were programmed so well that one
could never be sure. I thought it would be rude to ask if she was a real-world player, but then again, if she was an NPC she might take the inquiry as a compliment.

  “What?” she said, glancing back at me.

  “Hmm?”

  “You look like you’re puzzling over something,” she elaborated.

  “You’re very perceptive,” I said with a nervous laugh. “It’s just…I can’t tell if you’re real or not.”

  She stopped and turned in the tunnel to offer me a deep scowl.

  “You think I’m one of those mindless NPC’s?”

  “Not mindless, no. But if you’re a real person, how did you end up a succubus in the Underworld? I wasn’t aware that was even an option in game.”

  “It isn’t,” she said with a sigh. “I’ve been down here for months. Up top I was a human warlock. But I summoned a powerful demon before I was strong enough to control it. The fucking thing killed me over and over until I was level zero, and then dragged me down here. I was his prisoner for weeks, and it was him who turned me into a succubus. But I got the last laugh in the end.”

  “Really? How?”

  She grinned wryly. “I cut off his balls and fed him to a lava monster.”

  “Oh,” I said, cupping my own family jewels.

  A laugh escaped her that seemed to brighten the darkness.

  “So, if you get back to the surface world, will you get your human body back?”

  “I don’t know, but I intend to find out. Come on, the dungeon is just up ahead,” she told me, and together we continued through the tunnel. “Your friends might be in there, but I can’t make any guarantees.”

  “Do you know where Kincaid might be found?” I asked.

  “Why the hell would you want to find him?” she asked.

  I shrugged, “I’ve got my reasons.”

  “There are seven levels to the Underworld, and seven bosses. Kincaid is the boss of the seventh level, and therefore the most powerful being down here. As far as I know, he stays in his tower.”

  We soon came to an opening in the tunnel, and the tortured wails and cries of the dying echoed from deep within. Beyond the threshold, a deep red glow issued sporadically, as though cast by the flickering flames of a giant bonfire. A large iron gate separated us from the dungeon beyond, and on the other side stood a ten-foot-tall ogre with glowing red eyes.

  “The hell you wantin’?” he asked gruffly.

  “To get inside, genius,” she said sarcastically. “What the hell do you think I want? I’ve got this sweet little human to play with, and I want to use a cell.”

  The ogre ogled me. “He ain’t lookin’ like prisoner.”

  “He’s under my spell, shorty. Just open the gate will ya?”

  After a few more seconds of deep consideration—which looked to make the demonic ogre’s head ache—he finally opened the gate and let us through.

  “Thanks, Tiny,” said Nanaya as she sauntered past.

  I tried to ignore the ogre’s intense gaze and followed Nanaya into the dungeons. It was lined on both sides with cells, and inside were real world players being tortured by a variety of hellish creatures.

  “I can’t believe that some players try to hit level zero so they can live and play down here,” I said.

  “Yeah, well they’re freaks you know. Some people like the torture, the kinky sex,” she explained.

  “I’m all about kinky sex,” I admitted. “But I can’t imagine why anyone would want to endure torture. And I can’t believe that the programmers allow such a thing.”

  “Yeah, well, they’re getting a lot of flak from it too. There’ve been lawsuits and all that, but everyone signs a waiver when they begin the game. Not much to be done after that.”

  “I guess,” I said as I watched an elven player being whipped in one of the cells to the right.

  “What do your friends look like?” Nanaya asked.

  “They’re all women except for one,” I said, smiling when I thought of them. I explained what Anna, Ember, Trinity, Kit, and Cecilia looked like, and then told her about Tweak.

  “A purple ape?” she said turning to regard me with recognition. “Why didn’t you say so sooner?”

  “You’ve seen him?” I said hopefully.

  “Yeah,” she said with a frown. “He’s pretty popular down here.”

  “That can’t be good.”

  “Come on. I know where he’s being kept, at least I think I do. He’s been tossed around so much it’s hard to keep track of.”

  “Tossed around?”

  “Yeah, like I said, that purple ass is pretty popular.”

  Chapter 10

  As we walked through the dungeons, the demonic guards eyed me dangerously. Some of the players recognized me as I passed by their cells, and they pleaded with me to help them out. The guards took notice and glanced my way, but I kept my head down and followed Nanaya like an obedient slave.

  “Samson!” one of the prisoners cried out, and I glanced over quickly at the elven women chained to the wall. “Please Samson, save us!”

  That got the demonic ogre guards’ attention, and one of them suddenly blocked our way with a long fiery halberd.

  “Wait just a bloody minute,” he said as he scratched his head and turned to his counterpart across the hall. “Ain’t I heard that name before, Gornack?”

  “Me’s thinkin’ Drendal is right,” said Gornack, eyeing me stupidly.

  “You two big boys look smart,” said Nanaya. She glanced back at me and nudged her head down the hall. Then, to my surprise, her body transformed into a big fat ogre woman.

  The two ogres grinned wide, and Gornack forgot all about me. He set his halberd against the wall and shuffled over to Nanaya with his big gut giggling.

  “Drendal likes,” he said as Nanaya teased them both with her plump form.

  I snuck around the guards and continued to check the cells. There were human players, dwarves, elves, minotaur, and goblins, but no Tweak. Soon Nanaya joined me in her succubus form and took the lead once more.

  “What did you do to them?” I asked with amusement.

  She shrugged. “They’re a dumb lot. I told them I wanted to play hide and seek. They’re laboriously counting to 1,000 as we speak.”

  “Nice. Can you change into any form you want?”

  “Yeah,” she said as she continued down the long corridor. “But it has nothing to do with being a succubus. It was my special power from the beginning.”

  “That’s pretty cool.”

  “What’s yours? If you don’t mind me asking.”

  “I can level by having sex,” I said.

  She glanced back at me grinning. “Are you serious?”

  “I sure am,” I said proudly. “My guildmates say I’ve got the magic stick. Not only do I level when I achieve orgasm, but so do my partners.”

  “Partners?” she said with intrigue.

  “Anna, Ember, Trinity, Kit, and Cecilia. Although Cecilia isn’t really in the guild. We’re working on it, but she likes to work alone.”

  “So... you guys just lay around screwing and leveling all the time?”

  “Sometimes. But my special power has a 12-hour cooldown, so we do quests and stuff in between.”

  She shook her head with amusement and turned right. This tunnel led to a dark staircase, and from the chambers below the smell of sweat and blood wafted up on a current of thick sulfur.

  “I think your friend is down here,” Nanaya whispered. “I’ll take care of the guards, but once we find him, be prepared to fight.”

  “What level are these guards?” I asked. “Nothing registers on my interface.”

  “10-20,” she said. This is the first level of the Underworld, and you generally don’t find many NPC’s over level 20, but that doesn’t mean the bosses aren’t badass.”

  I nodded understanding and mentally prepared myself for battle.

  We moved down the stairs slowly, and soon the sounds of the tortured found our ears. Metal clanged on meta
l, a raging fire burned somewhere in the distance, and deep laughter met the chorus of pain. When we reached the landing, we stopped and Nanaya looked to see if the way was clear. This dungeon wasn’t a long hall full of cells, but rather a wide-open chamber with a pool of bubbling lava in the middle. Dozens of players hung from their toes above the lava, moaning and groaning and pleading for their lives. I watched horrified as one of the players, a dwarf, was lowered into the lava by a laughing ogre guard. The dwarf disappeared beneath the surface and emerged a few seconds later when he was pulled up, but all that was left of him was a screaming skeleton. To my surprise, a warlock standing off to the right hit the dwarf with a beam of pulsing green light, and his body was completely healed. There was a small reprieve from the pain for the dwarf, and then he was dipped again.

  “I can’t fucking believe the programmers are allowing this,” I said angrily.

  “Shhh!” Nanaya hissed, pointing to the right.

  Then I heard a voice I knew well, and my heart skipped a beat.

  “Trinity?” I said aloud and moved to peer deeper into the chamber.

  “You lost, slave?” came a deep voice, and a red-eyed ogre came storming over to me.

  “He’s with me,” said Nanaya, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me into the chamber.

  “It’s Trinity,” I said in a hushed voice as she led me around the pool of lava. “She’s in here somewhere.”

  Again, Trinity’s faint scream found me, and I told Nanaya that is was coming from the right side of the chamber. She led me that way, brushing by inquiring ogres and flipping them the bird as she went.

  The circular chamber was bigger than a football field, and all manner of torture devices were on display around the lava pool. There must have been a few hundred players down there, and as many NPC guards, mostly ogres.

  I spotted Trinity and my heart skipped a beat. My elation was short lived, however, as I saw what was being done to her. She was naked and tied to a whipping post, and two ogre women were taking turns flogging her with fiery whips. Deep red slashes covered her back, shoulders, ass, and legs, and her body trembled with the pain.

  “Wait!” said Nanaya, grabbing me by the arm when I instinctively began toward my guild mate.