[03] Rusted Steel!

[Kill Town]

Rusted Steel!

4-player cooperative

Summary: The players are teleported to a downtown urban area, where they must pilot vehicles of their choice to do battle with a “boss.” The boss is a large black monster truck with tinted windows and enough firepower (via rocket launchers and machine guns mounted to it) to be more than a match for the four-player team.

Hint: You can make your vehicle anything you want, it doesn’t really matter. You can only have one weapon, and that too can be anything you want. Just be sure to PM me before you post with your vehicle and weapon to give me an idea of what you’re going to do.

For example, it could be something like this:

Vehicle: Batmobile
Weapon: Bat rockets

Players:
• Orion
• Belle
• Ashe
• Cain

[Orion]

Orion's chance meeting with Victoria stirred up feelings that were normally displaced toward a human. She was a mercenary, sharing the saiyan's profession, albeit tied to a ridiculously restricted leash by The Company. Although socially inept, her combat proficiency was astounding; she was capable of going toe to toe with Orion, and although he knew he would eventually be the victor had the spar progressed, he foretold greatness about her. With the ability to command lightning and distribute it in various flavours, she possessed a powerful weapon in her arsenal that he had never seen a sentient life form wield before. If their paths should ever cross again, he would consider the naive bounty hunter a valuable ally.

Her naivety offered a wonderful safeguard too. Although somewhat blind to the darkness in the hearts of the selfish, that exact ignorance would allow Orion to function with her in tandem without concerning himself about a back-stabbing attempt. The saiyan understood the mind of sentients. Victoria harboured no ill thoughts towards him at all; on the contrary, her inquisitive questions never stopped coming. No doubt her curiosity was yet to be satiated when the swirling vortexes tore through the very fabric of space and time. With a respectful but brief pardon, she eagerly bounded through her portal, excited to learn of the Gamer's next puppet show.

Orion stood to his feet. One last glance of the carnival and he leapt into the hypnotic extravagance of the portal.

---

For a split second, Orion was puzzled by his location. A massive blue sky sprawled before him, coaxing sparse cumulus clouds to waft through it on a gentle breeze. All fake, of course. Locked inside another computer program, everything was simulated reality. He sensed the playful caress of the wind on his skin, the refreshing glow of the sun, but he knew it was all clouds of ones and zeros flooding his subconscious, tweaking his brain to believe the intricate lie set out before him.

Suddenly, Orion found himself free falling. He looked upwards, watching the churning wormhole collapse on itself as it shrunk from his view. Why he was deposited in the middle of the atmosphere he had no idea, but if he didn't want to be a handsome stain on the ground he needed to act -

Thud!

Everything halted. The one eyed saiyan scraped himself off the bitumen, staring at a lifelike indentation of his face in the asphalt. Dull throbbing occupied his face and chest, tunneling into his limbs before dissipating in his extremities. As much as Orion knew the pain radiating through his body was fake, it sure as hell felt real.

He took a glance skyward. The remaining traces of the portal fizzled out like the remnants of a firework explosion. He stood, brushing off the loose chips of asphalt clinging to his robe. The portal couldn't have been more than ten metres from the ground; just sufficient time to bewilder the saiyan before he could react while still maintaining a sickening collision with the bitumen. Gamer was a real prick.

Orion took stock of his surroundings. He stood in the middle of a road bordered by dilapidated flats and business. Most were missing windows, or where glass was absent, thick planks of wood were nailed criss-cross in their place. Aluminum garbage bins sat out front of each structure, filled to the brim with refuse to the point of overflowing. The wail of an emergency service siren buzzed in the distance, although its echoing volume indicated it was remote. Impurities clogged the air, causing the one eyed assassin to clear his throat on a regular basis. A shiftless hobo leaned against a nearby wall, intermittently scratching at the bloodthirsty fleas in his mangy, unkempt beard. It was a perfect replication of a human city, the slum section in particular.

The saiyan didn't know that, though. His first impression was that Gamer reconstructed a moderately well kept section of a saiyan city. It reminded him instantly of home, a memory that was most unwelcome. He hurriedly repressed it, maligning the saiyan home world in the process. The less time spent dwelling on the desert addled Vegeta-sei the better.

It didn't take long before another cosmic teleportation occurred to break his wandering mind. A trio of portals expanded from individual pin pricks of light until they were large enough to encompass a humanoid form. Orion expected the three new contenders to be allies, but never one to trust assumptions, prepared himself for the worst. He fell into a half fighting stance, straightening his left leg behind his body for a quick back step should the entourage have malicious intentions for the saiyan.

He immediately eased up when he found out the identities of his randomly assigned comrades. A shock of red hair hovered out of the portal with a large, misogynistic growth beneath it called Belle. Remembering him portraying the role as the yappy animal servant of Dorothy in the play, he was a fiery young man, almost as far removed from the concept of social graces as a hungry pig to table manners. He was uncouth and brash, but Orion recalled the whopper of a punch he landed on the actress donning the character of the evil witch. Another human like Victoria? The suspicion was obliterated when he spotted a furry tail protruding from Belle's back. A saiyan? He was the strangest saiyan Orion had ever seen. Unless he was one of those shameful half bloods.

Cain was the next to exit from the swirling collaboration of lights and patterns. Orion held no particular grudge against him; he was human, but that coupled with his inane chattering during the play didn't bother him. He couldn't understand why, exactly. Maybe he just didn't care enough to warrant hatred towards him. Either way, there were far worse companions in a tournament like this than Cain.

The last member of the motley crew was a pink haired girl whom Orion initially mistook for Victoria. Once the dancing swirls of the portal no longer hindered his vision, he realised it was another person entirely. She was a stunning young woman; eyes glistening like expertly cut emeralds, slender physique, and a bizarre taste in clothing considering the life-or-death circumstances of these events. Ashe gingerly stepped forward, uncertain as to the identity of the men before her.

"Hello," Cain said with an almost Mr. Bean-like inflection. "Nice to see you guys again."

"Yeah. A real pleasure," Belle snapped, his eyes on Orion. Their previous encounter didn't occur without some unpleasant friction.

Orion shrugged off the malice in the halfling's words. "What's the deal? What's the objective here?"

Spontaneous to the conclusion of the saiyan's sentence, two blinding spotlights switched on above them, drenching the highway in harsh light. The building directly behind the group shivered as if it were reacting to a frosty winter's breeze. The sound of ropes snapping preceded the entire facade of the neglected structure cascading down. All eyes were on the strange sight; the "walls" of the building were rippling as they fell, and everyone understood the situation.

The front of the building was merely a masterfully designed curtain that crumpled into itself on the ground, revealing a brand new garage complex behind it. Constructed of brick, it displayed four galvanised steel doors, each with an individual contestant's name embossed onto it. A singular red button was positioned next to each door. No further instructions were given.

"So I guess we just ... open the doors?" Ashe proposed.

"Seems like a good idea as any," Orion replied listlessly.

"Oh, I wonder what's behind my door!" Cain wondered enthusiastically.

"Woof - uh, I mean yeah," Belle added superfluously, although ready for any nasty surprises.

Orion was the first to make it to his roller door. He tapped his thumb on the button and gave it a gentle push, activating the automatic motor inside. In a few moments, the door disappeared into the roof, allowing the lavish floodlights to expose the item concealed within.

The one eyed saiyan couldn't be prepared for what he saw waiting for him to pilot.

[Belle Hibiki]

Belle wished she could have said more to Kaden. Wished she could have told him what she really meant by what she had said. Not that she wouldn't mind if she started stammering like an idiot, but Kaden. If she were a girl - the mere thought was enough to make Belle queasy - she thought she would have prefered it if the person she liked said something stupid in the heat of the moment. At least then, no matter how foolish it was, it would be honest.

"See ya," Belle muttered as she watched Kaden disappear into the portal, feeling suddenly more alone than she had in a very long time.

How strange.

The pager in her pocket blipped, and a moment later the air in front of her opened up from a single glowing pinprick into a wide, yawning portal. Belle threw a final look around, took a deep breath, and stepped through the shimmering disk, shuddering as she felt the gateway seal behind her.

~+~+~+~+~

She coughed. She worked her tongue around and spat. But nothing she did seemed to get the taste of the air out of her mouth. It was foul, retilent of decay and disuse, of so many things packed into close quarters and ill-kept. It was exactly the kind of thing that Belle hated about cities; how once you got past the gleaming skyscrapers, all too often the beautiful facade of society collapsed by into this urban jungle.

The only new construction was a garage. Belle approached the steel door that bore her name with some trepidation. She hesitated, looking around at the others, and pressed the button. So much for keeping my identity a secret, she thought with some annoyance, glowering as the steel door rolled up. The dark space beyond was bathed by a floodlight overhead, singular eye focused on the vehicle that rested at the center of the room.

"You're kidding," Belle breathed, her eyes flicking over the cherry-red motorcycle. Even by her limited standards, its design was sleek and inviting.

"So glad you could join the hoe down, Miss Belle Hibiki," said a voice from within. It took Belle a moment to locate the source: a speaker that had been screwed into the wall.

She frowned. The voice wasn't Gamer's. In fact, it reminded her of... "Bess?"

A crackle from the speaker - a robotic sigh? "Almost, little darlin': Wess. Before you start shoutin'," Wess continued as Belle opened her mouth to object at the endearment, "head to your bike and put the plug you find there into your ear."

The comm crackled again before going silent. "Going to frigging kill you," Belle grumbled. She was loathe to follow instructions from a disembodied voice, especially Wess', but as with previous rounds, she was forced to swallow her pride and play along. There would be time for righteous ass-kicking later - preferably once she had secured her old body.

Belle approached the cycle and looked it over. The wheels were larger than she typically saw on city streets, and the seat sat farther back than she thought it should. Swinging one leg over the hog, she closed her hands around the handles and lowered her bottom into the leather. It was surprisingly comfortable, though she had to lean over to fit her body to the bike's contours.

A flesh-colored wedge of plastic about the size of a thumbnail dangled from one of the bike's handles by an elastic string. Belle plucked it up, pulled the securing band away, and - after a few seconds fumbling - pushed the device into her right ear.

"There, that's miles better, ain't it?" Wess' voice spoke as clearly as if he were next to her.

"Miles," Belle growled. "You want to tell me what the Hell is going on here, 'cowpoke'? I thought your boss was running the show."

"Oh, he is. Master Gamer has no idea that I'm talking to you right now, or he'd be headin' down to the saloon to take me apart. Sure as shootin'."

Belle frowned, looking around. "But... Can't he see us? Isn't this his computer?"

"Indeed. But you see, little missy - "

"Stop calling me that!"

"Stop?" Wess asked, bemused. "But I only called you it once, Daisy."

Belle seethed. "Stop talking like I'm a girl when you know I'm not!" she bit out from between clenched teeth, trying to keep her voice as low as she could manage, not wanting any of her companions to overhear her conversation from the nearby garages.

Another crackle. "It's a pity, that is," Wess said. "A cactus-kickin', sand-whippin' tomboy is so much cuter than a rootin'-tootin' bronco with gynephobia. That's why I chose that body for you."

Belle froze. "You," she started, anger flashing hotter than an exploding star. "You ... did this ... to me?"

"Yes."

Belle's hands clenched so hard on the rubberized handles that a gash split open. "You-?"

"Let me say my piece first, darlin', before you start plottin' murder. Simple fact of it is that I HAD to do it - it was the only way to fool The Gamer's computer system. See," Wess explained, "the master can track you and your friends because the computer knows what to look for. Everything about you was programmed into its databanks when you were plugged in. But, if someone were to change you without reprogramming the computer's matching parameters, well then, it'd be like trying to find a needle in a haystack when what you're looking for is actually a cherry."

"After I get out of here," Belle said slowly, ignoring the technobabble. "I'm going to find you and take you apart. Piece. By. Piece."

"Don't you at least want to know why?"

"I don't know. To screw around with me? To humiliate me?" Belle spat. "To see if you could get me to go crazy? Piss me off?"

"Nope, though those all sound like entertainin' distractions," Wess said, sounding amused. "Nah, the real reason why is because you're my, and my compadres', only hope for survival. We need your help."

Belle's anger momentarily blazed higher. Why would Wess ever think that she would help him now? But as she opened her mouth to say as much, the words died in her throat. She grimaced and swallowed her rage, the flames cooling - though only slightly. "What do you mean?" she asked levelly.

"We're not people to him -- to Gamer. We're disposable. After he finishes his games, he plans to recycle us -- starting with me."

"Why do you need my help?" Belle asked, her mind turning back to the short battle she had had with the robots. "You're not super strong, but it seems like you'd be able to escape, or whatever, on your own."

"Ya flatter an old ranch hand," Wess said. "But the security system the Gamer has in place is tighter and more deadly than a noose."

"You can't take it out?"

"Not from where I am," Wess admitted. "I would need to get at the computer mainframe to do that, and the security would take me apart long before I could get there."

Wess waited, and Belle realized a few seconds later what he meant. She blinked. "You mean ... me?"

"You're already in the system; you're the best bet we have."

Belle's mind was spinning. "Wait." She frowned as a sudden thought hit her. "How did you change me if you can't get into the computer?"

"I had a little time to fiddle with the system when we were hooking you up to the mainframe," Wess explained. "I remember you swearin' something at me. Remember?"

Belle had to search back in her mind for a moment, then the memory clicked. "That was when you put in ... whatever it is that's making this happen to my body?"

"Yep," Wess sounded irritatingly happy that she had finally gotten it. "And a little something else, too. I piggy-backed it to your carrier signal, but it had to remain dormant until it was past the firewall to avoid setting off any red flags."

"What is it?"

"A virus."

Belle frowned. "You mean like a cold?" she asked, puzzled. "I didn't know computers could get sick."

Wess laughed. The sound was strained and artificial - though Belle guessed that wasn't too much of a surprise, given the source. "Yes -- we can."

"So... Where is it?" Belle looked around. "I don't remember having anything when I got here." She paused, then asked suspiciously: "Did you infect me?"

"Aren't you just the silliest filly?" Wess gave an electronic snort. "Check your left thumbnail, darlin'."

Belle frowned and did as he asked, then blinked at her thumb. There was something there, alright - a small, silver disk pressed against the broad side of the nail. She hadn't noticed it in her previous panic, and Kaden must have been distracted, as well. There seemed to be a film over it, and she was able to pull the adhesive covering the disk away. "This is your big virus?" she asked, disbelieving. The disk was maybe a quarter of an inch in diameter, and she felt like it would break if she twitched her fingers wrong.

"That's the one," Wess confirmed. "To make it work, you have to place it inside one of the Gamer's AI actors."

"Okay," Belle rolled her eyes. "And what are THOSE?"

"I keep forgettin' that you're a new hand on the ranch." Wess seemed to mull over his answer, then continued: "Do you remember any varmints in your games that weren't other players? Like the sailors on the Maiden's Dream? Those things - they were computer-created artificial intelligences. Or... A.I. actors."

"Yeah. Okay." Belle eyed the disk with some doubt. "So you want me to put this inside a... person?"

"I don't think you'll have to worry too much about that this game. Lucky for you; I don't think you're the kind of girl that likes wetwork."

"I'm not a girl at all," Belle snarled. "Even though you did this to me-... And that's a problem, too. How am I supposed to do what you want me to?"

"What do you mean, doll?" Wess asked.

Stay focused, Belle ordered herself as she started to flare up again. "I mean," she murmured, her voice tightly controlled. "Well. I've got this body. A girl's body. I can't fight like this."

"Why not?" Wess asked, sounding genuinely puzzled.

She frowned. "Well, isn't it obvious? I mean, how could a girl - ... It's different. I'm not as strong."

"I think you might find you're stronger than you think. But you won't have to jump that particular canyon this game. Your fight won't be with your body."

Belle looked down. "The bike?"

"Yes indeedy."

"But I can't ride a motor bike!" Belle protested. "I can't even take riding in Master Long's stupid car!"

"Then I guess," Wess' voice dropped, "you'd better learn fast."

It took Belle the better part of a minute to find out how to actually turn the bike on. She closed her fingers around the appropriate knob, and waited as Wess instructed for the bike to register her fingerprint before turning. The motorcycle abruptly thrummed with life, roaring with what seemed like barely restrained enthusiasm at being awakened from slumber.

Belle gave the throttle a few experimental tugs. The vibrations grew stronger underneath her, pulsing up the length of her entire body from her seat. She felt a slight almost-tingle between her legs. It was all very distracting.

With Wess instructing, Belle kicked up the kickstand and goosed the hog out of the gate, feet brushing down and 'walking' forward. "How the Hell do people ride these things?" she suddenly demanded. "It's going to fall over the second I start!"

"If you think that, it will," Wess warned her. "It's as easy as, well, riding a bike. Just don't think about it too much, and put your weight on that pretty little behind. If you worry over every little thing, it's just going to be that much harder."

"Kill. You." Belle's hands clenched again and she gave the throttle a fresh surge of energy. "Stop talking about me like that."

"Why not? I bet everyone else around you is thinkin' it - even that Kaden boy. Wishin' maybe you weren't so masculine."

"I'm warning you," Belle growled. "I swear to God or Buddha or the Dragon or whatever rules this universe that I WILL let you guys die!"

"At least thank me for teaching you how to ride," Wess said gently.

Belle frowned, unsure what he meant, then realized that she had somehow covered an entire city block without touching the ground. She brought the bike to a screeching halt, looking behind her in disbelief, and then forward again. "You... Did that on purpose?"

"You're welcome," Wess said. "Now, as for your 'opponent'..."

Belle eased the bike forward again, a little more confidently this time, listening to the robot's instructions -- listening very, very carefully.

[Orion]

This had to be some sort of spiteful farce. After the stultifying stint as the worm riddled lion of some incredibly convoluted Earthling story, he presumed that Gamer was getting his jollies from events crafted specifically to disgrace and mortify the pretentious saiyan. Even his adventure to the card inhabited land of Wonderland was so ridiculously obtuse that Orion considered its very creation to be an affront to his existence. At least he got to relieve his blood lust on the flimsy paper soldiers.

Yet what was the gimmick here? Gamer had opted for the blatantly unbearable thus far, shoving Orion into intentionally excruciating positions from the get-go, but what stood before him appeared too good to be true. His years of cautious realism refused to trust this object in front of him, but really, what choice did he have? It was apparent that Gamer left this vehicle in this garage for a purpose; for Orion to pilot it. He grunted and skulked into the garage, honing his mind and body for a split second reaction, should the situation warrant it.

Orion swiftly sidestepped next to the seat. He braced for a booby trap or otherwise predetermined "surprise", yet after a few moments and no undue movements, he relaxed. It was still only him and the vehicle in the garage; maybe this was on the level? In any case, Orion inspected the two wheeler. A sleek, obsidian plated motorcycle with thick treaded tyres glistened in the luminescence of the spotlights. It was built of markedly sparse parts; the dual wheels were connected via the other essential components of the bike. The engine hovered beneath the plush leather seat, which was situated far enough away from the handle bars that Orion realised he would need to lean forward to control it to any substantial degree. Dual cannons sprouted from the metallic fixing that joined the front wheel to the engine and back wheel. Two smaller extrusions above the attached weaponry acted as powerful spotlights.

It was a magnificent vehicle, one suitable for a mighty saiyan warrior such as himself. Orion lifted his leg over the seat and saddled the idling cycle, dropping his body weight onto the handle bars. So far so good. It hadn't imploded yet. The one eyed warmonger gave the throttle a few terse twists, igniting a belligerent battle cry from the roaring engine. Raw power converted into a machine. Orion smirked proudly. It only made sense that he received this beastly vehicle.

"He-llo!"

Orion straightened up. Had someone wandered in during his self indulgence over the bike?

"You mu-st be Or-ion!"

The voice was static and monotone, yet every second word it attempted a tonal shift with hideous results. It sounded as if this person had learned the language from pure study yet never heard the subtle changes in pitch during speech. Where it originated from, Orion was uncertain. It was close, but he was alone in the garage, wasn't he?

"H-ey! No, I'm ov-er here!"

Orion centred his one eye on an identical, pulsing representation of an eye embedded right into the middle of the handle bars. The crimson light radiating from within it flickered with each butchered sentence it made.

"What the hell?!" Orion exclaimed, shooting his clenched fingers away from the handle bars. "This thing has a damn AI program?"

"No-w now, Dave, there's no-thing to be conc-erned about," it cooed in a hauntingly soothing voice.

"Dave? My name's Orion, you half-witted hunk of crap," the saiyan retorted.

"Oh, m-y apologies! Da-ve was my la-st owner. It's ha-rd to forget the peo-ple who make a diff-erence to our lives, is-n't it, Orion?"

The veteran soldier furrowed his brow. Second thoughts were assaulting his mind. "So what the hell kind of deal is this, then? I start driving, then Gamer tells you to splatter me against a wall? You have some sort of spontaneously combustible 'incident'? What?"

"Why, tho-se are rather para-noid thoughts, Dave," the construct responded. "I'm here to he-lp direct you to yo-ur objective with utmost effic-iency."

Orion rolled his eye. "No offense, uh ... machine-"

"You can ca-ll me CAL if you li-ke," the bicycle interrupted.

"Fine, whatever. No offense, CAL, but ... actually, no, I intend plenty of offense, and I don't need some two-bit navigational software to tell me what the hell to do!"

"Firstly, you wou-ld be incorrect in sta-ting that I'm two-bit. I'm comp-osed of billions of bits, so pl-ease reference the relevant infor-mation when attempting to make fact-ual statements," CAL instructed coldly. "Secondly, you do-n't have a choice."

"The hell I don't!" Orion objected harshly. "I'm getting off this damn bike right-"

A metallic tendril unraveled from the side of the engine and immediately seized Orion's wrist, forcing it onto the throttle. An identical restraint unfurled from the adjacent side, tethering the saiyan's wrist to the handle bar.

"I'm afr-aid I can't let you do th-at, Dave."

Orion struggled against the mechanical coils, but CAL kept them rigid and immovable. "Stop strugg-ling. If you prom-ise to drive me, I'll let go of y-ou," it offered.

The robed saiyan hated forced participation, especially when the situation became as unfamiliar and unpredictable as this. However, he simply lacked the strength to free himself of CAL's iron grasp. "Fine. But don't get in the damn way. You're just a matrix of ones and zeros, after all."

"Do-n't be like that now, Da-ve," CAL tutted. "Just rev my en-gine and let's get go-ing!"

Orion wrenched his face. A male voice had never asked to have his engine revved. He did so anyway, grinding the rubber of the back wheel into a fine white cloud before blasting out of the garage like a particle in a proton accelerator.

"Now tu-rn right here," CAL directed.

"What about the others?" Orion inquired. "Shouldn't I wait?"

"Why Da-ve, you don't need any-one else but me!"

Orion grunted. "I don't need anyone else at all."

The saiyan obeyed the AI's suggestion, darting off down the street alone to face his challenge.

[Ashe]

"So I guess we just ... open the doors?"

The team of four was standing before a set of large steel doors, all appearing at first glance to be quite thick. Ashe noted that her name was spread across one of them as she voiced her assumption, her attention moving from the door to the red button that didn't even give them the courtesy of the word "Push" above it.

"Seems like a good idea as any," she heard from behind her.

Her partner from the first round stepped forward, a hand rising up emphatically to stroke his chin. "Oh, I wonder what's behind my door!"

An orange haired girl that her PAGER had identified as having a name identical to a fairly energetic young boy from Dante sighed in considered. "Woof - uh, I mean yeah."

Without another word, the cyclopean warrior of the group stepped forward, pressing his thumb to the red button and vanishing through the ascending door, swiftly striding into the shadows as the door slammed back down.

She looked at the rest of her team for reassurance, but she found that they, too, were entering their own set of gateways, the steel frames quickly dropping back down to seal their entrance with a thunderous boom. "I guess that just leaves me," Ashe mused, brushing her pink hair from her eyes and stepping forward to interact with her own entryway.

Moments passed, and she found herself traversing a small and narrow corridor, having nothing more to follow than a series of dim orbs set within the ceiling. After counting roughly five of these lights, she felt the air pressure around her weaken, giving way to a vast open space. "Welcome, Ashe," a masculine voice with a very confident, yet soft, appeal to it announced.

She spun quickly around in the room, but saw no one, stepping backwards as her eyes stared back down the direction she had come from. Though her eyes were adjusting to the darkness a bit, she felt herself back into a railing, prompting her to turn back around and look to where she'd arrived. "Who... who's there?"

"I assure you, my sweet lady, that you are not ready for the magnificence that I wish to grace you with. Alas, I am required to reveal myself to you entirely," the manly voice flirted.

"What are you talking about? This was supposed to be some kind of car game!" she insisted, holding on tight to the railing. "Who are you?"

"One who merely appreciates a fine body, regardless of the make. You, gorgeous, are going to be my sweet Corvette."

"Uh, no. No, I'm not. Reveal yourself," she repeated, unsure what she'd gotten herself into.

"If you insist, but I must give you fair warning. I may have more power than you can handle," the now creepy disembodied voice echoed.

Immediately following, the lights within the room slowly grew brighter, revealing the room to be almost entirely empty -aside from a domed shell with a massive steel door that appeared large enough to fit a herd of elephants through it. In the center of the room was a rail that moved in a circle entirely around the center of the floor, which appeared to have a line across its diameter. "I would have preferred to reveal myself to you in more romantic lighting, but as you have insisted on being able to look fully upon my form, I have realized that you are quite the adventurous type," its voice continued to swoon. "Thus, we'll do it with the lights on."

She said nothing, merely grinding her teeth together and releasing the railing to tighten her fists. This situation was entirely unexpected. She picked up her PAGER to see if it the event mentioned anything about having to fight someone for her vehicle, but she was interrupted as the floor began to split apart within the surrounding railing, each half sliding into the surrounding framework.

A platform with a large form covered by a blanket rose up until it came to rest even with the floor. "If you wish, you may join me beneath this blanket. Or, we can throw back this cover and make love until the moon has set on many cycles."

Realization dawned on her as the rails began to lower themselves until they had retreated into the floor. "You... are... my car?" she asked, reaching out to grab the covering.

"In the flesh, so to speak," the voice beneath the blanket responded. "Shall we drive to a more suitable location to romance a lovely figure such as yourself? Perhaps a hill with a great view of the stars, or a nice drive in movie theater."

She took a deep breath and ripped the blanket off quickly, throwing it to the side to get a good view of her vehicle. What she saw was a near defilement of every innocent thought left within her after her High School years. Even the sheer perversity of the car attempting to be romantic paled before its figure.

"My car... is a dick," she exhaled.

She didn't mean that choice of words as a portrayal of its personality.

[Orion]

Orion sped across the open highway. The ride was bumpy, owning in no small part to the pothole ridden bitumen and the general poor upkeep of the city. Obstacles were everywhere; garbage bins had toppled, strewing rotten refuse over his path. Charred car chassis, some which still emitted streams of smoke from their blackened rooves, blocked lanes and forced Orion to take evasive action on more than one occasion. CAL was persistently late with navigation, also; whenever an intersection or T-section was approaching, the AI program in the motorcycle fumbled for an answer, umming like a primary school student being asked a question by the teacher when he wasn't paying attention. If the saiyan didn't slam on the brakes or reduce his speed to an almost crawl when arriving at the junctures, he would have overshot the mark several times. One particular incident involved the screeching of tyres as Orion firmly clamped the brakes on after missing a turn only to slide into a grease slick. The violent loss of traction almost threw the warrior from his seat.

The ingress into the urban nightmare revealed further the nigh unliveable conditions that Orion had seen thus far. It appeared that this city was abandoned after a vicious incursion of a virus; shop windows were shattered, indicative of a panic fuelled riot. Cars that hadn't been consumed by flame and sizzled to a husk were simply forsaken, left idling in the streets. The overbearing stench of dust encrusted oxygen was headache inducing, but thankfully Orion's fierce velocity managed to provide a reprieve. Structures contiguous to the highway had fallen into disrepair, some going so far as to crumble into the streets. CAL's tyres were resilient against the smaller chunks of wall but Orion reined in the mighty mechanical stallion to skirt the outsides of the boulder sized rubble.

"Are we close?" Orion shouted over the aurally dampening winds streaming over his face.

"Why, we-'re not very far at a-ll from the obj-ective at all," CAL assured.

Orion guided the nimble two wheeler left at the next intersection, travelling beneath a looming bridge. Its shadow darkened the dilapidated highway, requiring a sharper eye and sharper reflexes. Orion was beginning to enjoy the journey to his target. The open road to himself, the determined motorcycle racing unhindered and unstoppable through the ruins of a ghost town ... it was exhilarating.

"Uh, Da-ve-"

Yep, it was fantastic. Except for the chatty CAL.

"What?" Orion barked. "I'm trying to have some fun here!"

"I thought you'd li-ke to know-"

"Know what?" he yelled, snaking left and right over the road. "What's so important? Did you 'forget' to tell me about a turn?"

"Not exactly."

A thunderous crash emanated about two hundred metres down the road. A ebony monster exploded through a support beam of the bridge as it audaciously arched over the highway amidst a thick film of concrete dust before disappearing over the opposite side.

"What the hell was that?" Orion exclaimed.

"That's the tar-get, Dave," CAL informed. "You ne-ed to bring it do-wn."

"What is it?" the saiyan requested. "All I saw was a streak of black and wheels big enough to act as satellite dishes."

"It's a monster truck," CAL stated. "And it's to-ugh." A series of warning bleeps elicited from the motorcycle. "There's some-thing more troub-ling up ahead."

CAL was right. The monster truck's spectacular entrance had demolished one of the bridge's supports, pouring a river of debris over his path. Orion's fingers reached for the brakes, but he felt an electrical tinge flood them.

"Hey!" Orion roared. "What did you do to the brakes? Are you trying to kill me?"

"Of course not, Da-ve," CAL reassured. "However, I am redirecting your course of action."

"To what? A blood smear on the rubble?"

Two red buttons on the inner of the handle bars flashed. Orion hadn't noticed them until now. "Use the-se."

There was no time to think. The remnants of the support beam were rushing towards him at an alarming rate. Orion dug his thumbs into the switches, hoping for some sort of presumed salvation.

From the dual cannons attached to the front of the bike, two miniature missiles launched. Orion realised the plan now; destroy the rubble, drive on through. Yet, his heart sank a second time when he discerned the distance between the explosion in his relative position in the next several seconds.

"What the hell did you make me do that for?!" Orion blasted. "I'm going to get caught in the missiles!"

CAL laughed in a sinister, synthesised tone. "I gue-ss this one is up to you, Da-ve."

Orion groaned. "I think I know what happened to Dave."

With a helpless yell, Orion clamped down on the brake handle, ignoring the temporary buzzing in his fingers. The wheels locked up, skidding towards the imminent detonation. He thrust the vehicle sideways, attempting to add more friction and thus slow the unslowable bike.

The missiles collided with the barrier of debris, tearing a misshapen gap in its centre. Orion turned his head as flecks of concrete pelted him, but thankfully the explosion only buffeted him with a deteriorated shockwave. The motorcycle slid cleanly sideways through the demolished speed bump, bursting out of the other side of the thick dust shroud. Orion yanked down on the throttle and awkwardly straightened the motorcycle, returning to normal travel once again.

"Holy crap," Orion muttered. "That was damn close."

"We-ll done," CAL responded cheerily. "Da-ve didn't sur-vive that trick wh-en we did it."

"The game's not over yet," the saiyan answered, catching the distant bellow of the monster truck's engine. "We've still got an armoured foe to send back to the junkyard."

Orion leaned to the right, forcing the bike into a tight turn off-road. He followed the path of the monster truck through a chainlink fence that it parted with ease, past a stack of wooden crates that it smashed recklessly through and back onto the road. Ink black skid marks over the highway directed Orion to the path of the monster truck like a flashing neon sign. The growling vehicle wasn't far away, according to the audible growl of the enemy engine and the incessant navigational updates from CAL.

"Here we are," CAL explained, referring to a steep hill directly ahead. "The mon-ster truck is at the hill's ap-ex."

Orion grinned. "Excellent." Another hefty tug on the accelerator sent the motorcycle screaming up the slope, experiencing limited speed reduction as it cleared the cusp.

The monster truck was in plain view, facing Orion. His eyes widened. A veritable cache of military hardware was affixed to the massive vehicle. Various flavours of machine guns, missile launchers, harpoons and other destructive weaponry pointed menacingly at the sleek bike. Orion's mind shut down for a moment, dumbstruck at how swiftly the assurance of victory changed to palpable doubt.

"You didn't fucking mention this!" Orion scorned the AI program.

CAL chuckled. "Oh, did-n't I? I apolo-gise. I'm sure you-'ll do fine, anyway."

The mechanical click of the monster truck's offensive tools signalled the time for consternation.

"Shit. Maybe I should've waited for everyone else."

[Ashe]

"So... you like what you see?" her car droned at her.

The car was, more or less, shaped exactly like a compact penis, only with a set of four wheels. Ashe was entirely red as she fought for her next words. "I don't know who's idea of a joke this is supposed to be to have me drive some perverted mechanical baby dick around while everyone else has rockets and lasers."

"Oh ho, what little you know. Get inside of me and I will show you what power I am capable of."

Ignoring the irony within his words - given that despite being a vehicle, it was clearly fueled with testosterone - she reached down to pick up the blanket it and then reached forward, using the blanket as a protective glove as she found the handle hidden in the side. "Ew, ew, ew, EW," she chanted, pulling the door open quickly and jumping in.

"Allow me," the car so courteously offered, shutting the door on its own.

"Most gentleman open the door for girls too," she pointed out.

"Alas, I was so stunned by your beauty that I forgot my manners momentarily," it flawlessly returned.

She fumbled around looking for a steering wheel before she noticed that it didn't have one. "How..." she began before realizing that the thing that she had assumed was a stick shift was actually, unsurprisingly, a phallus shaped joystick. It was clearly the steering mechanism. "Of course, I'd have to steer by holding something shaped like a cock," she groaned.

Without missing a beat, the voice spoke up. "If this is to your liking, you will absolutely love how to deploy the built in weapons system."

"How 'bout no?" she declared, glancing around the compartment for any buttons or switches to explain. "This it?" she guessed.

"I am afraid not. That button activates unprotected mode, allowing the roof of this compartment to slide back so that we may bask under the stars with nothing between us. I must warn you, with a heavy heart, that if you attempt to ride while in unprotected mode, I will have to disable the thrusters. I am afraid that safety comes first in these endeavors," the vehicle cooed at her.

"Gross," was the only words Ashe could think of as she continued searching. After a moment, she gave up. "Ok, fine. I'll figure out the weapons later. And you won't drive if I press that button, so how do with get going? What do I even call you?" she questioned.

"Oh, I must apologize for my lack of manners. You may call me... Money Shot."

"Money Shot..." she repeated in a deadpan voice. Shaking her head, she finally wrapped her hand around the shaft of the joystick. "Please tell me that I don't have to jerk this thing around to make it work," she pleaded.

"I will do the work, you just enjoy the ride."

"Oh, ok," she exhaled, withdrawing her hand with a smile and leaning back.

"Although, I find it hard to concentrate on the task without some stimulation from one such as yourself," it added.

"Oh," she repeated once more, realizing where this was going. She finally moved her hand forward once more and wrapped around the joystick. "Ok, Money Shot, let's... rock out with our cock out," she quipped. "What about the door?" she realized. "How do we open that?"

Suddenly the vehicle lurched forward, its wheels rolling it directly up before the steel monstrosity. "Ah, yes," it reflected. "Watch how it falls before my enormous girth," it announced. To finalize its punchline, the tip of the vehicle suddenly expanded forth, growing quickly as it slammed into the sealed exit. To Ashe's surprise, the door exploded off of its hinges, the clamorous sound echoing throughout the room as the vehicle rushed out into the great beyond, now fully formed like that of a stretch limo.

"How did you... THAT DOOR WAS SOLID STEEL!"

Money Shot chuckled. "Yes, I must admit. That wasn't the first cherry I have taken a bit over aggressively."

The streets passed by them quickly as they roared over open asphalt, hearing the sounds of explosions in the distance. A series of vehicles rushed back and forth in the distance, doing battle with what Ashe could only describe as an enormous monster truck, all black and armored from bumper to bumper. In comparison, the other vehicles were descriptionless blurs of motion doing everything they could to avoid the repeated rockets and guns that were blasting at them.

"Over there," she pointed out. "I bet that thing has quite a sound system in it," she mused, noticing the shining chrome of its rims reflecting the explosions around it. "That thing looks like a giant Hummer?"

"I love when you talk dirty," Money Shot responded.

"Huh?"

"As for the sound system," it continued without clarification. The radio kicked on without warning, causing Ashe to jump in her seat for a moment.

"GOODNESS GRACIOUS GREAT BALLS OF FIRE!" it screamed, causing Ashe to take her hand off the driving stick to cover her ears. As if in response, the radio shut off, with a quick apology from her vehicle's computer.

"Let's..." she began, taking hold of the reins once more. "Let's just focus on the task at hand," she decided, quickly approaching the giant boss vehicle.

Without a moment's warning, the black armored vehicle slid a turn, its rockets swerving to point directly at her. "Um, MOVE," Ashe screamed loudly.

Thankfully, Money Shot didn't await her orders before its tires spun, firing off directly beneath the passing explosions. "Shall we go... balls deep?" it voiced, seeking permission before moving directly towards the opposing monstrosity.

[Belle Hibiki]

It was only a few minute later that Belle spotted it.

Rolling through the streets, crunching wastepaper bins beneath its massive wheels, the enormous black truck plowed over any obstacle in its way. It seemed to be roaming without any particular destination, and despite the amount of damage it was causing, no police had shown up to do anything about it. Apparently the sirens in the distance were just to give the illusion that Belle was not, in fact, alone.

Revving the motorcycle's engine, Belle hunched down and eased her ride into the cover of an alleyway. Walking the sleek bulk forward, she peeped her head out from around the corner, then pulled back. The truck had paused, its massive engine idling, and Belle had the distinct impression that it was listening for her.

"Wait for it," Wess cautioned her. "And ... now."

Belle pulled back on the throttle and shot out of the alley so fast that the front wheel felt like it was about to fly into the air. She almost lost control of the bike completely as she turned the vehicle to point towards the truck, pressed herself to the bike, and accelerated.

The movement hadn't gone unnoticed. Instead of trying to do a three-point turn, the monster truck simply backed up, aiming its wheels for her.

Following Wess' instructions, Belle gritted her teeth and swerved to the side a split second before contact. She flew through the wide gap between the truck's wheels and soared out in front of it. Her front wheel wobbled as it struck the crumpled remains of one of the victimized trashcans, but she just managed to keep herself from losing control completely.

The engine of the obsidian truck roared to full life. Its wheels squealed against the pavement as it switched quickly from reverse to forward, kicking up a tide of debris before launching after her with incredible speed.

Belle spared a few glances over her shoulder. As before, the mammoth vehicle didn't so much drive as it did plow. It mounted curbs, slammed into - and knocked over - small trees, and made pancakes out of any unfortunate cars that just happened to be parked on the street. It only swerved when absolutely necessary, apparently intent on reaching her as quickly as possible while still racking up some pre-established amount of destruction. The machine seemed to thrive on it, and Belle could almost sense an aura about it, as if it were somehow alive.

Belle almost missed her turn as she shook her head to clear her thoughts. Yanking the front wheel bodily to the right, the sudden change in direction forced her to lean in the same direction to compensate. Her knee came barely half a foot above the ground, her hair whipping a telephone pole as she reached the apex, then straightened out.

The quick movement caught the truck off guard. Trying to match her turn, it slammed into the tall commercial building on the corner with enough force to shatter all the windows on the block. Shockwaves rippled through the pavement, and Belle momentarily slowed her flight to take a long look back.

She wished she hadn't. A second after the glass had stopped falling, the truck pulled out of the caved hole that it had ripped in the building's side, reoriented, and started coming for her again. This time, however, it dispensed with the thrill of the hunt.

Belle's eyes widened as the truck's shape began to shift. The highly placed doors popped open as twin racks of weaponry rolled out and locked into place. Belle was more accustomed to fighting with her bare hands than anything else, but she could still recognize a gun when she saw it. A high pitched whine carried over the warring roar of engines...

"Turn!" Wess barked.

Half a second later the air was filled with a withering hail of hot lead. Concrete spat and and crunched all around her as Belle did as Wess had instructed, the guidance unnecessary - she had no desire to keep her exposed back to that much firepower if she could help it.

The next street was just as dilapidated and filled with the kind of desperate, lonely misery that Belle had come to expect from the simulation. A few intersections down, however, the dull monotony of streets and bleak, smog-ridden sky was broken by the looming presence of a bridge that ran cross-ways above and across her path.

"Just beyond the bridge there's a fence," Wess spoke into her ear. "We can cut through that and onto a wider road."

"Are you sure this plan of yours is going to work?" Belle growled above the building scream of the bike's engine as it kicked into the next gear.

"It's our best shot," Wess reminded her as the truck rolled around the corner she had just cleared. This time, instead of plunging fender-first into an ice-cream shop, it took a wider, swooping turn and snapped over a telephone pole as easily as if it were a twig before righting itself in the center of the street. The whine started again.

"It's going to shoot at me again!" Belle barked. "Doesn't this stupid bike have anything to stop it?!"

Wess' voice was partially masked as the guns behind her opened up. Windows all around her shattered as bullets ricocheted across the street. " -- the handle above -- hand."

"What?!" Belle shouted, veering around a hover SUV that had been abandoned in the middle of the street. She had barely cleared it when the dormant vehicle was turned into swiss cheese.

"Pull the handle above your left hand."

Belle reached her fingers up towards the sweeping, silver, knob-ended lever and pulled down, gripping it tight to the handle.

Twin compartments on either side of the bike blew open, plastic coverings panging off the concrete as two large, multibarreled weapons surged out and locked into place, just like the truck's had. Belle was just about to comment to Wess that they were pointing the wrong way - forward - when the guns suddenly rotated to point behind and directly at the truck, as if they had been guided by her thoughts. The barrels whined as they began to spin, becoming a blur...

Belle's teeth chattered as the miniguns opened up, sending stronger vibrations bumping into her body.

She whizzed under the bridge as the truck faltered. One gun went silent as the combined fire from Belle's weapons severed the mechanical arm holding it in place. The truck juked left and right, swerving to avoid another direct hit before, with a sudden burst of speed, it cleaved to the right and raced up an on-ramp. Instead of taking the road's directed turn to the right, it flung itself straight through the guardrail, into open air, and over the bridge.

Mostly over, as it turned out. The juggernaut made monster-truck didn't quite have the height to avoid the bridge completely. It slammed clean through a support beam and several thick cables before arcing back down to the ground. It slammed onto all four wheels, bounced, seemed as if it would topple over, and then found its 'footing.'

Belle's mouth fell open. "Holy shit."

The street ahead opened up on her right. Whether through accident or design, a section of the city had been left undeveloped. Whatever in nature there was, however, had been choked by the urban sprawl. Only scrubs of dirty grass remained, the entire area cordoned off by a fence.

Again, as if reading her thoughts, the guns swiveled forward, revved up, and fired, ripping open a gap in the chain link. Belle zoomed through, hissing as a jagged edge of link slashed across her arm - but she had to put it aside. Injuries could wait till later.

If the monster was surprised by the sudden detour, it didn't wait to think it through. It plunged after her with the feral determination of a lunging panther, trailing her up the near hill and onto the adjoining street, still spitting more firepower than a small army combined in her direction. Somehow Belle managed to avoid any direct hits as she raced up the streeet's steep incline, though several close calls chipped away as the bike's formerly smooth, crimson plating as her own guns returned fire.

Her left gun suddenly went silent with a metallic screech as two heavy rounds knocked it halfway off its turret base. "Right this way," Belle growled as she reached the top of hill, passed over the apex, and skidded to a halt. The drop-off was steep - almost completely blind to someone heading up the hill in either direction.

The monster truck's engine sounded like the angry roar of a predator losing its prey. The sound surged, and as the very top of the truck peeked into view, Belle fell onto her side and hoped that Wess' guess had been right.

It had. The monster truck hadn't even bothered slowing its pace as it had approached. It was a single-minded beast, and as it vaulted over the hill, its speed was enough that its tires left the ground completely. Its shadow passed over Belle - much larger than she had thought possible - and gave way to dirty sunlight a second later.

Four tires hit the ground and for the second time in as many minutes seemed as if they were four short of what was required. But even though the truck failed to flip, it paused in confusion, skidding to a stop, headlights staring down at the empty hill before it in apparent confusion.

Belle pushed herself up, focused her eyes on the rear window, concentrated with all her might, and pulled her firing handle.

The gun whirred and sprayed. A moment later the bulletproof glass cracked, then warped and exploded inward.

Not bothering to wait for the truck's response, Belle gunned her engine and launched down towards the exposed back of the beast. It seemed to have realized what had happened, but it was already too late.

Gathering her energy for the first time that round, Belle filled herself with power. The feeling was different than she was used to; it flowed easily through her body as she hopped up, feet on the bike seat, bare toes curling against the warmth, precariously perched, hands still on the handles. Her timing would have to be perfect...

She sensed the right time a split second before it came, and jumped. The bike fell onto its side, skidding through the gap in the wheels as Belle hurled herself over the truck's massive frame. She reached into her pocket, felt the small 'virus' that Wess had given her, and pulled it out.

Landing just behind the shattered window, Belle grabbed onto a clear bit of the window frame that wasn't occupied by jagged glass with her free hand. She spared a look inside, registered the complete lack of anything, hurled the tiny silver disk inside, and prepared to throw herself off the behemoth's back.

The truck swerved at the last instant, throwing her off balance. Instead of the heroic leap she had just performed, Belle tumbled off the top of the armored truck like a very clumsy rag-doll and hit the concrete with a grunt and a muffled "ow!" She had just enough presence of mind to roll to the side to avoid the enemy's massive wheels as it reversed and attempted to squash her.

She stumbled to her knees as the turrets began to track towards her and dived into a nearby alleyway, cursing as the entrance behind her exploded into fire. It seemed bullets weren't the machine's only weaponry.

It was just then that she heard the sound of the others approaching.

"Thank you, Miss Belle," Wess spoke over the ringing in her ears. "From me, and every one of my compadres... Thank you. Rest assured, we'll do what we can to help."

"Fantastic, and what's that?" Belle asked.

Silence.

"Hello?" Belle tapped her ear. "Hello, Wess-dude?"

Still no response.

She sighed and pulled out the ear piece as the truck veered off to tackle its new opponents. "You're welcome," she muttered, crushing the device in her fingers.

One day, she thought, someone was going to screw her over because she was too trusting. It was too bad, really - because she had no intention of changing.

She could have said no to Wess and ignored his plan entirely. She owed him nothing, after all, and had confidence in her own ability to take Gamer down. She didn't need his help...

But she had helped him anyway. Because if she didn't, he could have died.

Adam, John Doe, Jun... and now Wess. Belle had lost count of the number of her enemies that she had ended up showing mercy toward.

Apparently, not even a girl's body could take that away from her. She looked down at her hands, then out at her half-functioning cycle that still lay in the center of the road.

"Time to get to work," she muttered, and started after the hog.

[Ashe]

"Ok, I'm starting to feel like Michael Knight right now," she chuckled. "I guess I see why he drives a talking car, though."

"I assure you, I am not all talk and no action. Unlike the vehicle you are thinking of, I can perform quite admirably. Take, for instance, the ejaculation system."

"The what?" she asked, doing a double take.

"The weapons system," it covered up flawlessly. In direct conflict with its attempt at hiding its meaning, a small panel opened in the roof of the vehicle, with a small pair of what appeared to be decoration fuzzy dice dropping from the roof. Only they weren't dice.

"Fuzzy balls," she groaned, wondering when the puns would end. Gamer was likely laughing himself into hysterics, where ever he happened to be. "Nice decoration," she pointed out. "What's that got to do with the giant car we're about to drive under?" she asked, noting that they were quickly approaching its underside.

"Weapons system," it repeatedly quickly. "Right about now, I want you to squeeze... the left one."

"Uh, ok?" She quickly followed up by doing as it asked, knowing that there was no time for argument.

"Oh that's... most pleasurable," an ecstasy filled purr filled the driver's room. Before she could do more than wrinkle her nose in disgust, the vehicle began to shake violently. A stream of yellow liquid shot forth from the tip of the extension, covering the road before it. "Oops, I seem to have wet myself," it quickly apologized, hitting the puddle of liquid. "Hold on tight!" it cried out, suddenly hydroplaning across the street quickly, rushing out and directly beneath the enemy.

Ashe spun around and saw giant wheels passing by her in every direction, spinning wildly in conflict with the liquid itself and, losing traction, twisting until it was slowed by striking through a series of telephone poles. "That was..." she began, finding herself cut off.

"I'm sorry!" it interrupted wildly. "I panicked. It's been awhile and I told you the wrong one."

"Ugh, well, better to be pissed off than pissed on, I guess," she retorted, looking back at the vehicle behind them.

They slowed around a corner and saw another vehicle ride up beside them. "Ashe!" a voice cried out, the man's voice muffled from the doors.

Looking to her right, she saw Orion riding on a sleek motorcycle. "Yay, company!" she cheered before noticing the girl named Belle riding up on another motorbike to her left. "Ok, so where's the last guy?"

"Haven't seen him!" the girl screamed, her voice now being relayed into the car through the speaker system. "Let's kill this damn thing and get outta' here!"

"Right!"

The threesome rushed around another block and slowed to a crawl while noticing the destructive truck before them. Its engines roared before a series of turrets twisted to lock onto each of them. In perfect unison, all three of them fired. Like a dance, Orion and Belle turned their bikes off into opposing directions to avoid the blasts.

"Squeeze the right one!" Money Shot informed her. Following its request - against her best thoughts - she did as it asked, feeling a wild shaking of the vehicle once more. "YESSSSS!" the orgasmic voice cried out passionately, this time expelling a white stream of goo from the front of it.

The rockets impacted the spraying goo and found themselves engulfed by it, the explosions causing a quick yet harmless expansion within the tar-like substance, hindering it from doing anything more than falling to the ground as a dud. In reaction, the car swirved drove over the liquid completely without being stuck.

"That was kinda cool, and gross, but still cool... but how are you not getting stuck in that stuff yourself?"

"Wheels coated in vasoline, sweet lass."

"..." Words escaped her as her teammates converged once more at her side.

"That's the most disgusting car I've ever seen!" one of them informed her.

While she agreed, she wasn't entirely sure of insulting her car after it had just saved her from being gibbed by a cluster of rockets. That said, they were quickly approaching a bridge, as Orion pointed out. "Rush over it," he instructed. "We'll take it as it comes over!"

"Right!" she and Belle both agreed.

Taking the bait, the boss's engines roared loudly as two more extremely large rocket turrets expanded out from its sides. The triad pushed their own engines as quickly as possible, all three attempting to outrace the machine closing the distance. "Gonna be close!" Belle warned.

The titanic beast had just reached the apex of the bridge as all three of them slid to a halt at the bottom, facing their opponent directly. "Take the bridge out now!" Orion cried out. Leading the assault, he pressed a button of his own and a set of rockets exploded forth from his bike, striking one of the foundations of the bridge.

Belle followed up with her own attack on the bridge, leaving Ashe in a panic. "Ok, so what's it gonna be? We gonna make it slide off the bridge or are we going to stick it there?" she asked quickly, her hands holding onto each fuzzy ball above her.

"My sweet vixen, I implore that you think your actions through here. I-"

"Screw it!" she screamed, squeezing both at the same time.

"No, NO!" it cried out as it began shaking. "THE BURNING!"

She sniffed a moment, smelling an awkward smell as she released the pair. "Burning?"

A stream of green erupted from the front of the enormous girth, covering the front of the bridge quickly. "I hate this!" Money Shot roared, leaving Ashe feeling terrible inside.

However, the results were quite acceptable. The bridge began to slowly dissolve beneath the goo, corroding away beneath it until the bridge finally gave way. An enormous clatter erupted as the structure caved in. "Did we get it?"

[Kill Town]

Back in the garage, one lone participant still stood in front of his garage. Cain couldn’t figure out the opening mechanism to the door, and kept glancing around to see if anyone lingered around who could assist him in the structural puzzle. He knew he had to get it open and help out his teammates, or at the very least, get out of the starting gate and into the event. Suddenly, as if by automatic timer or a fateful manipulation of unseen hand, the sliding metal sheet opened, revealing a wall of blinding red light behind it and nothing more. The suave-looking cyborg faltered a moment, confused.

“Wait…” he gasped, his eyes widening. Hadn’t this happened to Mr. Zhu after their play? Cain immediately turned around and started to bolt in the opposite direction.

“Oh Cain, you showed such promise…” the voice of Gamer rang out hauntingly.

Cain reached out futilely to grab onto something… anything… to keep him anchored into this reality. Despite his efforts, he felt a powerful vortex mercilessly pull him off his feet and drag him backwards.

“Nooooo!” he cried out as his body was sucked into the portal, vanishing from sight. The door slammed shut, almost as if Cain had never existed at all.

Meanwhile, on the bridge, Ashe, Belle, and Orion waited patiently to see if they had conquered their horrifying opponent. Their vehicles – two motorcycles and a giant penis – idled on the edge as the dust and rubble cleared, green, acidic vapors dissipating from the pit. Abruptly, they heard the gentle roar of an engine being gunned. It started faint at first, and then grew louder and louder.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Ashe moaned.

“What is that thing?” Orion growled.

“He just doesn’t know when to quit!” Belle said in her faux manly tone.

The monster truck, propelled by hidden rocket launchers, vaulted from the pit in a wide, sweeping arc and landed a good distance behind them. Its engine idled, punctuated by the revving of its gas pedal as its frame rumbled, as if daring them to attack again. Orion and Belle swept their hogs around, while Ashe was forced to use a more awkward maneuver to put the cock in the right spot, and the trio faced down the monster truck once again. The Rusted Steel boss roared to life, its gargantuan wheels burning rubber in place and smoking out the area as it barreled towards them, weapons training to fire.

Ashe squeezed both balls on the phallic vehicle once again, much to its shuddering protesting, sending another stream of sickly acid spewing towards the opponent. The corrosive liquid splattered unpleasantly all over the monster truck’s armored bumper, grille, and fenders with a lethal hiss, eating away at the defenses. Belle opened fire with his guns, loosing a hail of bullets that riddled the boss full of messy, sparking holes. The full-blooded saiyan, holding the most powerful weapon of the three, waited for just the right moment for the coup de grace. The monster truck slowed from a blistering pace to a crawl, losing power.

“Lights out,” Orion said, finishing off the combo attack. He unleashed twin deadly missiles that hid dead on, blowing the monster truck sky high in a greasy fireball of doom. The saiya-jin smirked, victorious in a worthy endeavor at last.

“Exce-llent j-ob, Dave,” CAL congratulated.

As the Rusted Steel boss smoldered in a pile of twisted metal, another voice rang out ominously.

“Looks like you’ve all had a small victory… for now! Back to start for you!” Gamer laughed.

Three portals of blue appeared above their heads, drawing them up off their vehicles and into the cosmic doorways.

1st: Orion - 40 monies
2nd: Belle - 30 monies
3rd: Ashe - 20 monies
Cain is dead.