FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 15: Online Tournament Part 1

The week had passed and so did the mid-terms. The students could relax for the time being until the next assignment would come to them the next week. Hunter Montana finished his workout routine at the 800 Building that Friday afternoon. He waited for Sol the leopard in the locker room as he told him to because he had a word with him.

The wolf-man stood outside the locker room entrance with his duffel bag on his shoulder with dirty used gym clothes inside, waiting for him.

Sol, with a cleaned red and blue soccer jacket and black jeans, came out of the locker room, looking good and fresh. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if you were distracted in there," Hunter half-joked as the two walked through the hall.

"Oh, yeah, I did, Xavier has the best buttocks in the group," grinned Sol.

"Dude!" Hunter gave him the WTF-face.

"It's only a glance, man," waved Sol.

"Knowing Xavier, he'll--"

"Oh, he shampooed me in the face from last game math," the leopard interrupted.

"And you're cool with that?"

"Why not? He won't hurt anyone."

"Xavier cut ties with Sergio last semester," Hunter reminded him. "He's--"

"You know I don't bullshit around in the club, and Xavier knows that. He takes it very well, and I do my part," Sol remarked. "I'm not worried about birdie-boy, Hunter. And besides, he looks very happy now."

"Okay, whatever," Hunter sighed annoyedly. When the pair left the building, Hunter changed a new subject. "So, what do you want me to talk about?"

"I'm planning a prank, and I need you."

"Okay," Hunter shrugged, "what do you want me to do?"

"Uh, I need you as a live bait..." Sol guiltily smiled.

"Live bait? What are you saying?" Hunter was puzzled. "Can you at least tell me what you're planning?"

"Okay, you know Robin, the secret admirer?" Hunter nodded. "He's a freshman, so I thought I'll give him a little of that treatment."

"It's October, Sol," Hunter reminded him, getting a little suspicious. "It's too late to mess with a freshman."

"Okay, you got me, it's to prove his personal motives," he stated.

"His personal motives?"

"Well, you see, if I play the bait, it won't make much of a difference to me. I need someone who Robin hasn't met before, and you're the only suitable candidate to make the prank work out properly. So, are you in?"

"Hmm, I guess it won't be too bad--"

"Run, Hunter, it's a sex prank," Xavier walked by behind them without looking at the two as he left the building. "That was for looking at my ass, Sol."

Hunter stared at the leopard almost in disbelief, but he already got an idea of where Sol was going into. "A sex prank, Sol? Really?"

"It's more of a 'caught in the act prank,' really," Sol clarified.

"So, you can catch your admirer and me doing it?"

"Yeah, exactly, but I'm not the one catching you both in the scene, Natasha will."

"Natasha is in the prank?"

"Yeah, you play as my roommate and Natasha's boyfriend," Sol explained. "Our subject, Robin, is a classmate of Natasha's theater class, and during the week, Natasha's been mentioning her new boyfriend to Robin in the most casual way possible, without mentioning your name, of course. When the time comes, your goal is to make a move on him, and... well, there's a possibility that you might get laid."

"And where do you expect this prank is going to happen?"

"In my dorm, duh, that is why you're playing as my roommate."

"Okay, I get it now, but why do I have to play as Natasha's boyfriend?"

"That detail will be in the back of Robin's mind, you don't have to worry about that, he doesn't know who you are and how you look like, and even if he saw you around the campus, he won't think too much about it."

"Okay, but what if the prank fails?"

"Let's not think about failure, Hunt," Sol wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "If anything, Robin seems to have a promiscuous side. I think he's very forward and will pursuit anything, so the chances are very likely, that's what I'm after, and you might enjoy it."

Hunter sighed, one hand on his forehead between his white pointy ears. "So, let me get this straight, you want me to be in a prank to test some uncharted waters on somebody who is your secret admirer. I play as your roommate and Natasha's boyfriend. Once he comes to your room, I make a move on him or he makes a move on me, have sex with him, and... then what?"

"Natasha will open the door by my signal, catching you two in bed, and makes a crazy scene that scares Robin altogether. Trust me, Hunter, that would be the best part!"

"Really, I thought the sex would be your favorite part?"

"Yeah, that too," Sol patted his shoulder. "So, are you game?"

"Wait! Are there going to be cameras in this?" Hunter frowned.

"No, that's too much, I'm not gonna torture the guy and post it on the internet like that. Any more questions, Hunt?"

"Is Sergio involved in this?"

"Yeah, a little, he only gave me the idea, but, like I said, no cameras."

"And when this is going to happen?"

"Next week, on Wednesday. After your workout, you go straight to my dorm and take a shower there, when Robin comes to the dorm, he'll be seeing you just wearing a towel, that way, it would wake up his hormones. So, are you in? Please~?" he shook Hunter's shoulders and kept on pleading, adding a cherry on top.

Hunter exasperated a sigh. "Okay, fine, I'll join your prank."

"YAY!" Sol raised both fists in the air. "If you have more questions, I'll keep you in touch before Wednesday, okay?"

"Sure, Sol," Hunter sighed, rubbing his furry neck.

"Augh, what? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, Sol," Hunter was wondering about his life choices and the stupid prank. The thought of doing it with a stranger for a prank was so bawdy and risqué. Sometimes, he was glad he was no longer interested in Sol and seeing him more as a friend.

"Is it Keanu?" he sneered.

"W-what?" he confusedly said. He could not believe this was the next subject.

Sol smiled and teased. "Have you noticed how he looks at you at lunch? Or nearly at every one of us? The Arctic Prince sure likes his men masculine like us."

Now getting off-topic, Hunter ignored it but remembered he promised to Keanu to be his teammate this weekend for an online game of Sky Riders Online when Sol addressed Keanu as Arctic Prince.

"Ah, thanks for reminding me, Sol. Keanu and I'll be playing Sky Ryders' tournament this weekend."

"Changing the topic, huh? Oh, and about that, does Broderick have a teammate yet?"

"I'm playing with him this weekend," said Xavier as he conveniently passed by, heading back to the building. "I left my bathing kit in the showers."

"Ah, so, see you, Hunter," said Sol as he walked by himself, "call me and text me if you have more questions, I'm happy to discuss it."

Even after leaving him alone in the cobblestones, Hunter still had more questions regarding the prank. And it was not just any prank, a sex prank, and a very familiar one. It was a classic case of caught-in-the-act; Natasha would walk into the room, finding Hunter and Robin in a very raunchy position in bed.

It was all too familiar; he had experienced an actual caught-in-the-act in his own home with Rylan's former friend Perry Brighton. Both had sexual intercourse in his bedroom and when they finished, both mindlessly walked into the living room. Rylan was there and freaked the hell out, realizing it was Perry who slept with Hunter and not some stranger on Craigslist.

It was not as traumatic as he recalled but still made things worse between them currently. He would soon reconcile with his brother one day.

Aside from that, the prank was going forward, and Hunter tried to imagine any scenarios on how it would turn out. The sex part was the most he stressed about; how is he going to do it? He hoped Natasha would catch them lying on top of each other with their pants on or something.

Sol did not say anything on how he should do it, or maybe the word sex was just an overstatement from Xavier. If anything, Hunter would do it in his own way. Maybe that was why he should keep on discussing with Sol during the weekend. He could tell him later he would do it in his own way if he wanted him in the prank.

In the late afternoon, Hunter made it to the tram station. Keanu waited for him and glad he did not miss the train.

"Hi, Hunter," Keanu's soft voice greeted. "You made it."

"Hey, Keanu, how was class?"

"Good, I have to do more drawings with live people with clothes this time."

"I see, so you want me to model for you?" Hunter teased, winking at him.

"No, Hunter, but thank you, I'll let you know," Keanu chuckled, knowing he was just playing but he could use a volunteer for his art class.

"So, are you ready to beat Broderick this weekend tournament? You have a PlayStation, right?"

"Yeah, I have two controllers, Dad and I play sometimes when he's around."

"Cool," he gave him a thumbs-up. "Oh, Xavier will play with Broderick. Looks like they're ready."

"Really? Okay, and I called Jack and Crystal about Broderick, they were okay about the rematch."

"Heh, now we're making this more exciting," Hunter said as the train arrived at the station, the wolves boarded it, heading back home to Oasis Boulevard.

The tournament was held on a Saturday evening. Now that the mid-terms were over, Keanu, Hunter, Jack, Crystal, Broderick, and Xavier were training Sky Ryders before the tournament would start.

The game was a hoverboard racing game with 50 unique racetracks around the world in a futuristic setting. The weekly special tournaments were held every Saturday night, offering some special prizes for the First, Second, and Third place winners after the whole tournament finished.

The tournament, or EX-World Gran Prix, tended to be unpredictable, picking randomly any of the ten world cups. Each world cup consisted of five racetracks, and the tournament would only pick six of them, a total of 30 racetracks to play out of 50.

To participate, the tournament would require six teams in pair, a total of 12 racers, and to win, each team of pairs would gather points together, when one cup was finished, the team with the most points would win, securing a cup point. Once the tournament had finished, the team with the most cup points wins. If all six teams came to a draw (which was often rare), when each team won a cup, the numbers of points gathered would eventually determine the winner.

Keanu, wearing a purple shirt and light-blue shorts, was preparing some drinks and finger food with toothpicks and napkins because he did not want his controllers to be dirty with food. He placed the tray on the coffee table. The game console was on and connected online, there was another tournament being held before the next one and he was just watching a live game happening.

Hunter, wearing a green t-shirt with a white paw logo on his left chest and dune-colored cargo shorts, knocked on the door. Keanu answered, welcoming him inside. "Good evening, Hunter. You're just in time for the tournament, and I made some snacks."

"Cool, you seemed very prepared," Hunter said and saw the tray on the coffee table with some light snacks; cheese cubes, chicken nuggets with toothpicks with sweet-and-sour sauce, and cooled soda cans on a bucket full of ice. "This sure looks good, you made this?"

"Yeah, they're easy to make."

"Sounds delicious, can I?"

"Sure, I made plenty."

"Are you sure you made this if I brought someone over to your house?" Hunter munched a dipped nugget. "My siblings are also playing online before us at home."

"Well, I did it out of habit, Jack and Crystal would come by at my house on the weekends and hang out here. So, I thought it'll be fun if we hang out here and eat," Keanu answered. "Besides, I had to empty the last of the nuggets in the box--and, please, eat the nuggets with a toothpick, Hunter, I don't want any grease on the controller."

Hunter stopped with his eyes widen with one half-bitten nugget in his fingers, after eating the rest, he licked his fingertips and washed his hands before getting his hands on the game controller. "The nuggets are good, though."

"Get ready, our tournament is coming up next," Kenau informed as he sat on the couch.

Hunter came back with his hands cleaned, sitting next to Keanu on the couch. "So, how long have you been playing this game?"

"Pretty much since it was released last summer, Jack recommended me. What about you?"

"Well, not too long and barely played it much," Hunter honestly said.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not much into winning this, but I'll try."

"What, why?"

"This is just a game, and Broderick is acting like Jack."

"Well, that's Broderick to you, he can be very challenging sometimes."

"Even if we lose, Jack will still kick his butt like last time."

"Ha-ha, butt," Hunter mocked as he put on the headset for wolves with a microphone. The game tournament had started.

"What?" Kenau followed, putting the headset on.

"Do you swear?"

"Not much, and I don't need them."

"Everyone swears on a regular basis."

"And our parents would scold us with 'language!'" Keanu mocked.

The wolves laughed until hearing familiar voices. The new tournament on the tv screen opened a billboard with usernames appearing swiftly, joining new contestants. Hunter's username was Mount Fenrir.

_"Hey, Cousin, you there?"_that was Jack's raspy voice. His username Ice Master appeared on the screen.

"Hey, Keanu, is Hunter playing with you as you said?" said Crystal's voice. Viking Glacier was now online.

"Hello! This is Island Cruiser, speaking. Testing, testing, one, two, three," that was Xavier's voice. "I have a new headset, does it work?"

"Fine and clear, Xavier," Hunter replied.

_"Hey, Ice Master, remember me?"_Broderick's voice appeared as Antler Shock. His voice hinted vengeance.

"Antler Shock, good to hear_you again. Man, last time I faced you, you cried like a bitch,"_ Jack teased.

"I know who you are, Jack Winterson_! You're going down!"_

"How the fuck does he know my name?"

"Jack, that's Broderick, he goes to college with me," Keanu said. "I kind of told him who are."

"Dude, why?"

"I didn't mean to, Jack, it just slipped," Kenau excused.

"And by the way, Broderick_, it's Winters--not Winterson!"_ Jack corrected.

"Don't worry, dude, you're not the only one," said Xavier, "no one I know will say my last name right."

"Who cares, I will have my vengeance for beating me from last week's tournament," said Broderick.

"Good luck with that, I'm boasting my brand new hoverboard that I won last week, and I'm gonna try it out for this tournament. Think you can keep up?" said Jack.

"Hell, yeah, everyone is watching live right now to see an epic race!"

"Wow, Broderick, I only see you behaving like that in the field, you sure sound very obnoxious online than ever," said Xavier.

"That's because I'm taking back what I lost!"

"Honestly, Broderick, I only play for fun," said Keanu, "I think you're taking this way too personal than the rest of us."

"Thank you, Keanu!" Xavier said exasperatedly. "The reason I joined to play with Broderick was that Xerxes refused to play with him from last game's tour, and because I was available after my family dinner, I gave him a chance so he can stop crying."

_"Hey, I'm not a cry baby!"_shouted Broderick. The two were not in the same room, Xavier in his dorm while Broderick in his.

"Don't let your ego get the best of you, Broderick," Xavier warned, "or you'll eventually lose this tournament, and it won't be my fault."

They faintly heard Broderick tsk.

"Guys, the game is starting," Crystal notified.

The tournament started; twelve racers would compete for the championship. As expected, it randomly picked the first world cup; The Jade Cup. The cup consisted of five racetracks: China Town, Tokyo City, Singapore Highway, Royal Temple, and Shanghai Hights.

"Oh no," Crystal said, "I hate that one track where you have to avoid a truck."

"Use that shortcut then," Jack suggested.

"I'm not very skilled enough to do it three times in a row, I need a boost for that," she explained to Jack.

"Oh, I see you have some issues, Jack~," sneered Broderick.

"Shut up, the race is about to start!"

Hunter and Keanu shared a perplexed look at each other, wondering if this was going to last the whole tournament.

The first racetrack: China Town was introduced with outstanding scenery, showcasing a typical Chinese community town and the track's outrageous features. It had ramps for jumping, railings for sliding, and short cuts for cutting corners. And a lot of traffic.

"Remember, Keanu, we're a team," Hunter said.

"Sure," Keanu smiled, tail wagging.

The screen split in two for the two players left and right, showing each of their characters holding a hoverboard like a surfboard, ready to catch some waves. All twelve contestants were ready to dash forward until the countdown initiated, anyone who would cross the starting line would be electrocuted. It was only a small strategy but once it reached zero, everyone would automatically hop on the board and the race began.

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1... GO!" cried the in-game voice.

Arctic Prince and Mount Fenrir hopped on their boards and the race began, swooshing through the streets of China Town at nighttime. Other riders avoided the vehicles acting as obstacles and one towing truck had the platform down, acting as a ramp to perform tricks. Mount Fenrir sped up to the ramp and spun around in the air, earning him some air supply as fuel for the board once he landed perfectly on the ground and boosted some speed. He reached Fifth place.

Arctic Prince was behind Fenrir, but turned sharply to the right into an alleyway, picked an item, and jumped into a ramp, landing right behind Island Cruiser who was in Second, and Ice Master in First.

Keanu got a Stunt Gun, it would slow down the board in a short time, he pressed the button and shot at Island Cruiser, temporality crippling him.

Keanu and Hunter heard Xavier shrieking. "Who did that?!"

"Sorry, Xavier," Keanu guiltily said but knew it was all part of playing.

"Humph, well played, I guess we don't have to go easy on you."

On the second lap, Mount Fenrir had been attacked by the infamous First Place Rocket, an exclusive item for the last place player who needed a little bit of hope to reach further than Twelfth place. It only aimed at the First-place player only, anyone near the blast would be hit. Mount Fenrir found himself in Twelfth place, knowing he would only get one point in this position.

Keanu narrowly avoided the blast and sped forward, finding himself in First place. Ice Master was behind him in Second, and Antler Shock in Third, the two of the most notorious players Keanu was facing against. Every time he was in First place, his heart pounded anxiously as if the whole world were depending on him.

Ice Master shoved him out of the way, a common move to hit opponents. So much for winning, but it was only growing him to convince himself not to give up. Arctic Prince avoided another shove from Antler Shock by jumping on a handrail, he slid away automatically and loaded up his air tank. He jumped back on the street and crossed the finish line in third place.

It was the final lap, and Arctic Prince must perform once again the same shortcut.

Mount Fenrir meanwhile had managed to catch up halfway of the track, using items and short cuts to pass his opponents. He was now in Fourth-place, Antler Shock and Ice Master were in a good brawl.

Mount Fenrir got an item, another Stunt Gun, and Arctic Prince got an Oil Block; the player could snipe at a player in front to obstruct its view or throw it behind so a player could slide on it and have the view blocked.

"Keanu, you and I have a shot at this to win," said Hunter. "You get Ice Master, and I get Antler Shock, okay?" Keanu nodded.

It was one last shot before the race ended, Arctic Prince followed Ice Master while Mount Fenrir after Antler Shock.

Mount Fenrir, with his Stunt Gun ready, boosted his sped, cruising at 200 miles per hour.

"Surprise, motherfucker!" Hunter cried, launching the gun and shocking Antler Shock.

"FUUUUUCK!!!" screamed Broderick.

"Yeah!" Hunter howled. He was now in First place--

" __Sorpresa, cabrón!" Xavier cried, launching his First Place Rocket at Hunter.

"NO!" Hunter incredulously shouted, pressing the speed boost to outrun the incoming rocket, but it was in vain, he blew up on the spot, and he fell in Fifth place when he recovered.

"Keanu, you are my only hope, shoot your objective," said Hunter.

"I got it!" Keanu obeyed, he wanted to make sure his cousin was vulnerable and in the clear.

When it came, he had one shot, with his Oil Block ready, he sniped it at Ice Master.

"Blech!!!" Jack shouted. "What the?" Ice Master spun and lost visibility, slowing him down.

Arctic Prince sped up, passing him, and crossed the finish line in First place.

"Arctic Prince! First Place!" cried the commenter.

"Yes!" Keanu shouted, standing up from his seat in victory with arms spread, releasing the air he was holding those precious seconds of momentum.

Ice Master limped for Second, but Antler Shock passed him before he did. Viking Glacier compensated in Third place before Ice Master crossed the line for Fourth. Mount Fenrir crossed in Sixth place, and Island Cruiser in Fifth.

"Hah, I got First-place," Keanu breathed as he sat down.

Hunter tapped his shoulder. "That was great! You did well."

"Yeah, yeah, bring it on! Bring up the next race!" said Broderick.

Only 29 racetracks to go...