Characters: Aisha, Roxanne, Siarra, Kim, Gena, Tony, Sophia
Meanwhile, back in the arena, hell was rearing her ugly face. And hell was definitely a woman. Stabbing the female contestants in their feet may have started off as a good idea for the Men, but their little wooden spears soon came into contact with a very big problem—steel boots. This became apparent when about twenty naked Men, bellowing some sort of foreign war cry, attempted to thrust their spears into the heavy black metal of Roxanne’s armor. Their spears splintered on impact.
“That can’t be good,” one of the Men said before Roxanne’s boot crashed down on him, showing him the correct way to inflict pain. Blood squirted from his dangling limbs as Roxanne lifted her foot and began smashing it down on the others until she was standing in a warm pool of blood.
“Annoying little bastards,” she spat. “I’ll squish the whole lot of you myself if I have to.”
“I don’t think you’ll get that chance,” threatened a voice from behind. Aisha interlocked her fingers and swung her arms like a club, striking the back of Roxanne’s neck. The sound of clanging metal echoed through the air. Unfazed, Roxanne hurled her fist into Aisha’s gut. And again. Aisha buckled to her knees.
“That was a stupid thing to do,” Roxanne said. “Now I’m going to have to kill you too.”
Aisha stared down at her knuckles, watching streams of blood pour across the folded veins in her skin. “You…wouldn’t kill a sister of the Apostles.”
“You don’t know me very well,” Roxanne said. She kicked Aisha to the ground and planted her boot on her face, grinding Aisha’s cheek into the sand. “But give me some time, sweet thing. You’ll learn to love me.” She twisted her heel as if she were putting out a cigarette.
Aisha choked with a mouthful of sand. “S-stop it…”
Suddenly, Siarra appeared from behind. She had her fiery wand poised in one hand and her fingers clenched in the other. “Get your nasty foot off her or I’ll put it up your rear end.”
“Hello to you too, Siarra,” Roxanne said, kicking Aisha’s body away. “Come for round two?”
“I came to get my brother back. And to go back, to our world, where we belong.”
Roxanne clicked her tongue. “Aw, that’s too bad. I like it here.”
“No. Game over, Roxanne. This isn’t funny anymore.”
“Well! Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the foot. You should be glad that you’re a girl. I have no reason to kill you.”
“You don’t discriminate like that,” Siarra scowled. “I know what you and Gena are up to. You’ll kill anybody—male or female—to get what you want. It’s all part of your sick game and I’m done playing.”
Kim stood next to Siarra and nocked an arrow, aiming straight for the space between Roxanne’s narrowing eyes. “We’re both done playing. Let’s go home now.”
Glowering, Roxanne stood her ground as Aisha crawled over to Siarra and Kim and rose to her feet. “…Well, isn’t this cute. You have a little army now, don’t you? Where’s that cocky little Mage from before?”
“She’s around here,” Siarra said, but her voice was slow and uncertain.
“I’m sure she is,” Roxanne said with a laugh. “She’s watching us, isn’t she? She has no intention of helping you. You should realize by now that you have as little chance of going home as Men have of earning rights. Why are you trying to help them?”
“What makes you think we’re trying to help them?”
“Oh, please, why else would you be here? You just want to find your little brother and go home, you selfish baby. You never did care about anybody else.”
“Shut up. Just shut up and tell me where my brother is.”
“Don’t you like this world? You’re not the victim here. Men are. Imagine all the fun we can have, tormenting them, taking over this kingdom, becoming goddesses. Isn’t that why you started playing Neverquest? You wanted to be on top, just like the rest of us. And we’re offering you the chance. Why do you want to give it all up?”
“Don’t listen to her,” Kim said, pulling back on her bowstring. “Let’s just get Frankie and go.”
“Go where? Haven’t you noticed? The virus is already taking over our minds. It won’t be long before we all forget this is a game. We’re part of this new world, don’t you see?”
“All I see is a bunch of lies,” Siarra said. “All of this and everything we see—it’s not real! I won’t ever forget that.”
“What are you talking about?” Aisha asked.
“There they are!” came Gena’s voice and she appeared next to Roxanne with a man on her shoulder. “Those are the ones who put the virus in the game.”
The man nodded and stood up, looking from Siarra to Kim. “You two did this?” He then looked at Aisha and grinned shyly. “Hi there, Aisha. You were always one of my favorite models.”
“Um, thanks…?” she said, blinking.
“I am your father! I created you! But you can call me Tony.”
“O…kay…”
“Anyway, uhhh…you two! What are your names?”
Gena stepped in. “Their names are Siarra and Kim. I overheard in the cafeteria the other day, talking about how they wanted to put a virus into the game so that they could power level themselves to level 100.”
“Even we GMs can’t power level that high,” Tony said. “I’m afraid I’ll have to ban you two.”
“That’s ridiculous!” Siarra said. “Gena’s lying. She’s the one who did it.”
“Why do you always blame everything on me!?” Gena cried. “You were always jealous! I…I only wanted you to like me.”
Roxanne gasped. “You heartless fiend!”
“…You have to be kidding me. Kim, would you tell him the truth?”
“Siarra’s right,” Kim said. “We’ve been trying to find a way home for days now. Whatever kind of virus Gena put into your system, it’s preventing us from logging out.”
Still upon Gena’s shoulder, Tony looked from one girl to the next, trying to decipher the hidden expressions in their faces. But they were all so still, so angry, so serious, that he didn’t know what to do. “…Sophia, are you still there?” He glanced up at the girls. “Sophia’s leading CNN operations. She’ll sort this out.”
Back at the CNN headquarters, Sophia pressed the red button on the loudspeaker. “Yes, I’m picking your conversation. Two of them are lying.”
“Yes, but which two?”
“I can’t tell. We’ll have to test them somehow.”
“Copy that,” Tony said. He tried to think. “…Ladies, are these Men with any of you?” He pointed to the forty or so Men in the arena, who were still running about, stabbing girls in their bare feet. Isaac, Quentin, Mundo, Robin Hobb, Little John, and Grandpa were still alive and leading the pack.
“Yes,” Siarra said. “They’re with us.”
“Interesting… I didn’t think a handful of Men would have enough power to turn the odds of the Tournament of Champions against the Women.” He paused. “Unless some sort of hacking device was used…”
“No!” Kim said. “At least, not by us. Ask the Men. They’ll vouch for us. They want to go home as much as we do.”
Tony shook his head. “I have a better idea. Siarra, Kim… I want you two to duel Gena and Roxanne.”
“What would that prove!?”
“Well, aside from turning me on, it would show us who put the virus into the game. Obviously two of you are far more twinked out than the other two, so whoever wins the battle must be the virus hackers. Sound fair?”
“Sounds fair to me!” Gena said, setting Tony gently down into the sand. She turned to Roxanne and nodded.
“Wait, something’s not right…” Kim began to say, but Roxanne ran at her, diving straight into the tip of the arrow.
“Gaaaah, I’ve been slain!” Roxanne cried out, collapsing to the ground. Gena did the same with Siarra, running herself through with the wand, and fell down next to Roxanne. Their lay with their tongues stuck out, faking their own deaths.
“Well, that proves it,” Tony said, staring up at a stunned Kim and Siarra. “You two are in a lot of trouble.”
Giantess World
