Macro Games: Round 3, Part 1
Following the explosive ending to round 2, round 3 picks up with the aftermath, both in the arena and beyond, and introduces several new faces. Where will things go from here? Stay tuned!
All characters belong to their respective players and are used with permission.
The tiger was staring out the window when Charn knocked softly at the open door of his office. There was no predicting his mood on a good day, let alone a day when his son was possibly dead. It had been 45 minutes, and still there was no signal from the Games and no word from Brantley.
The big tiger cleared his throat quietly, but still his leader didn't turn his gaze from the crowd in the street. They'd been steadily gathering since the signal died, and had worked themselves up into a frenzy, a wordless screaming mob. But President Kindle had agreed to meet with the press, to try to calm the growing fears worldwide. Charn was actually a bit surprised that Kindle had been chosen...Vetra and Armstrong were usually the ones in charge of handling the public relations. But no one could argue that the tiger standing before him wasn't an authoritative presence.
He finally turned to his subordinate, paws clasped firmly behind his back, blue suit tight across a muscled frame that was nearly a match for his son's. "Charn," he began. "Any word?"
"Nothing new, sir," Charn answered. "The press is waiting for your statement."
The older tiger nodded slowly and began walking towards him. Charn fell into step behind him as he made his way down the hall to the conference room where a flurry of voices greeted them. The President made eye contact with no one, head held high and face stoney as he took the podium. With one look across the crowd, everyone fell silent .
It wasn't hard to see why, at least not to Charn. He'd been working with the President for years now, and could read even the slightest tell in his face and posture. Right now, he appeared to be holding it together, but when Charn looked closely, he noticed the small things...the tie smoothed too perfectly, to an almost obsessive degree; the fine strain of the suit jacket around his upper arms; the way his tail was held perfectly still, as though he were ready to pounce. He knew this posture. His commander-in-chief was ready to pounce.
The tiger took a deep breath and let it out slowly, closing his eyes for a moment before addressing the camera. "As you are all aware," he began, "the Macro Games were interrupted by what can only be described as an act of terrorism against the world. At this time, we are unaware of casualties and unable to regain contact with the island. As such, emergency protocols are being activated to handle the situation."
Hands went up throughout the crowd, but the President ignored them all. "I am not at liberty to discuss the details of the protocol. But as a member of the Macro Games board, I can assure you that the situation is being contained. As we speak, soldiers from around the world, from every country, are descending upon the island, with General Armstrong's forces taking the lead. Our very best people are working to restore a connection with the island, and we have relief workers standing by to evacuate any wounded. We will continue to update the press as things unfold."
He took a step backwards from the podium and began to walk away as the din of voices rose once more. "Mr. President, what is your plan to catch this Gamemaker?" "Mr. President, are we in danger?" "Mr. President, what will happen if the Games can't resume?" "Mr. President, what about your SON?"
Charn flinched as the President stopped in his tracks. A hush fell over the room once more, and the tiger slowly turned to them, eyes steely. "My son's fate is in his own hands. He will survive, or he will not."
The crowd seemed stunned for just a brief moment as the tiger turned to walk off the stage, Charn following closely behind, never relaxing until the door was shut securely behind them, a security team and a wall between them and the crowd. He caught up to President Kindle quickly, falling into step behind him. "Sir, is there anything I can do for you?"
The tiger paused outside the door of his office, tail moving slowly behind him. Charn could almost see the thoughts racing behind those jade eyes. "Make sure I'm not disturbed."
Charn nodded. "Of course, sir."
He wanted badly to say something comforting. But his President was not the kind of man who would accept platitudes of any sort. He simply watched as the elder tiger closed the door, then took up his position outside, guarding him as he always had.
The mountain pass was dark, darker still as the lights high overhead flickered with the rumbling sounds from the arena. Bradley frowned up at them every now and then, uncertain as to what could possibly be going on. He and Albert had fled their lab when the Gamemakers started asking questions, and had been half-way through the old tunnels when the world seemed to shake around them. That could only mean that the Games were getting more intense, which made it more imperative than ever that he make it into the old city to work on the Key.
He clutched the case with his research tightly to his chest and slid a pair of night-vision goggles over his eyes. The overhead lights were flickering, but not enough to blind him, and the green-hued glasses gave him a much better look at the tunnels ahead. Honestly, there wasn't much to see, but it was clear that they'd been built to allow access for even a large contestant...though contestants were forbidden to leave the arena until after the Games were done.
He spared a glance back at the muscled rat who followed along behind him. Albert was over six and a half feet tall with dark gray fur, a long pink tail, and a bit of a muscle gut. He had worked with the fox for years now, but he still refused to wear anything other than a white tank top and jeans, even in the lab. It had bothered the fox at first, but he'd gotten used to it eventually. And Albert had proven to be more intelligent than his appearance suggested, and extremely skilled at handling every sort of concoction that Bradley could throw at him. There wasn't a single soul he trusted more at this moment to back him up.
"Not much farther," he said, giving the rat a grin. He knew Albert didn't need the goggles to see the smile in the dark. But he frowned as he saw the rat's ear's twitch. "Something wrong?"
Albert nodded gruffly. "I hear footsteps, not far behind," he said. "Maybe three of them."
Bradley sighed. He knew it would come to this eventually, but he had hoped they could make it to the city before that. "Oh well," he said, giving a shrug. "You know what to do."
The three Gamemakers had been in pursuit of the fox and rat ever since the largest of the three had picked up their scent. "Just up ahead," he growled. "They're still together."
"Still can't contact headquarters," the smallest of the three growled back. "Whatever that explosion was, it took out everything."
"Then we'd best move quickly," the third member of the trio said. And as if to emphasize that, he picked up the pace, taking the lead as they raced down the passage.
It was large enough for an overgrown contestant to move through, if they were careful, but it was still filled with junk. It seemed that the Gamemakers and producers over the years had used the crawl space as more of a storage room than anything else. So when the third Gamemaker rounded a large crate, he was caught completely off-guard by the shaggy gray arm that found his throat in the darkness. He went sprawling, feet flying out from under him as he tumbled across the stone floor.
The other two Gamemakers stopped short, both growling. "That can only be Albert! Show yourself!"
The big rat smirked as he stepped from behind the crate, smacking his fist into his palm. "Took you guys long enough to catch up," he said.
"You'll wish we hadn't soon enough," the largest one growled. He pulled something from within his robe that extended into a baton with a flick of his wrist, and the other Gamemaker followed suit.
But the rat only smirked. "You think you can do anything to me with those?" He grinned wider and waves his hand. "Bring 'em on then!"
The largest Gamemaker growled, but hesitated as the other Gamemaker charged past him. "Wait!"
But it was too late to stop him as the rat easily caught the wrist holding the baton in mid-swing, giving the arm a powerful twist and forcing a cry of pain from him. "Too easy," the rat chuckled, and as the Gamemaker brought his other fist up, Albert caught it as well and gave him a swift headbutt, letting him stumble backwards in the dark. "If that's the best you've got, you might as well go home before you get hurt."
A baton appeared around his throat as the third Gamemaker moved up behind, putting all his weight into it as he tried to choke the rat. But Albert only smirked again, a look that only infuriated the Gamemakers more. "Nice," he choked out, leaning forward and pulling the Gamemaker up off his feet. He was surprisingly heavy, giving the rat pause for the first time. He groaned as he took a shambling step backwards, the baton still digging into his throat, and then grunted with effort as he leaned forward again quickly, this time succeeding in flipping the Gamemaker over his shoulder.
He rubbed his throat roughly as he stood back up, eyeing the three of them more warily now. "Not bad," he said. "But I've got a lot of tricks up my sleeve, too." He grinned as his paw moved over what appeared to be a wristwatch.
The largest Gamemaker growled. "What are you doing? What is that?"
But it's effect was obvious in seconds as the rat began to grow and swell, his tank top growing tighter across that muscle gut, stretching until it neared its limit, his pecs forcing the thin straps further apart as they bulged. Pink, pierced nipples appeared from within as his chest outgrew the tank top completely. His arms bulged with muscle, biceps rippling as he flexed them. His jeans grew tighter as well, the old fabric tearing and shredding along the seams and right up the seat as his thighs and ass grew larger. He gave a grunt and powerful flex and tore them apart, leaving him in just a pair of bulging black trunks, just like the competitors wore. He grinned down at them as he soared higher, doubling and tripling in size within moments, until he was nearly 40 feet tall.
"Damn it!" the largest of the Gamemakers barked. All three of them were less than 10 feet tall, no match for someone this size.
"What's that, pipsqueak?" the rat chuckled. "Can't hear you down there!" He laughed and started to reach for them, but they scurried backwards, spreading out.
"We have to use it," the largest Gamemaker called out.
"But they said not to unless it was an emergency," the smallest said. "Besides...will we even be able to do anything in here, if...?"
"No choice!" the largest said, reaching into his robe. His paw clasped around the harness inside, finding the dial and giving it a sharp turn as he grinned up at the rat. "You're not the only one who can get big!"
The rat grunted in response as he watched the three hooded figures each beginning to swell and grow. The largest went first, his hood falling back to reveal a growling white wolf in a pair of glasses. As the robe grew tighter around him, more of his body appeared beneath, until finally he slipped the robe off completely. He was powerfully built, with a silver chain around his neck and tattoos across his pecs, biceps, and lower abs. He wore the same stretchy black trunks, but in addition he wore a black harness that crossed over his back and chest, a dial resting just beneath those huge pecs, a dial cranked up to about half way as his body grew.
The already powerful wolf soared with muscle and size as his arms bulged to obscene proportions, arms growing thicker and beefier, pecs bulging and abs cut into muscled ridges. In moments, his quads were each nearly as thick as he had started out as he still grew, until he was just short of the rat's size at 35 feet tall.
The other two began to reveal themselves as well, the black draolf eagerly stripping off his robe to reveal a similar harness. He was the one the rat had clotheslined, and his dial was pushed much further than the wolf's. He was just as powerfully built as the wolf, with a small scar over his left eye, draconic wings, and heftier bulge to his trunks that only grew larger as he swelled with muscle himself. He growled deeply in his throat as he grew up over the rat, not stopping until he was 50 feet tall and eyeing him intently.
The smallest of the three turned out to be a wolf as well, a gray wolf with a slender frame. Of all of them, he looked the least like an enforcer, but his eyes had the glint of someone more clever than he let on. His dial was cranked up high as well, and he grew to roughly the rat's size at 40 feet, but he hung back behind the other two.
The white wolf spared a quick glance at his fellow Gamemakers and grinned. "Well, nice to finally see your faces," he smirked. "I'm Achilles."
"Kaji," the draolf answered, not taking his eyes off the rat.
"Odin," the gray wolf said, retrieving his baton. It was roughly the size of a toothpick to him now, and he tossed it away. "Guess we won't be needing these." "No," the rat agreed, "you won't need anything but a few bandages."
"I'm tired of listening to you," Achilles growled. "Let's take him!" He didn't wait for the others to acknowledge, charging at the rat's legs. Kaji moved over him, wings flapping as he moved to secure the rat's arms.
But Albert was ready for both, his leg sweeping out to crash into the wolf. He pivoted as he kicked out, causing the draolf to miss, soaring over head. But Albert's paw caught his tail and gave him a sharp yank, pulling him back down with a hard thud as he crashed into the floor again.
The white wolf was on his feet quickly, leaping over the draolf and crashing into the rat's chest, a solid impact that sent them both toppling backwards. They landed awkwardly, with Achilles on top, easily pinning the rat's arms with biceps twice the size of Albert's, but the rat's legs continued to struggle and squirm beneath him. "Hold still!" the wolf barked, but the rat found the leverage he needed to get his knees up and roll them over.
But as soon as he was on top, he felt the other gray wolf slam into his back, and felt something stinging at his neck. He shook him off and stood, but he felt dizzy. "What...what did you do?"
Odin smirked at him. "Did you think we wouldn't be prepared to handle a big guy like you?" He laughed. "It's our JOB to be able to deal with giants."
Albert groaned as he felt the chemicals starting to take effect. Already his body felt weaker, and as he looked down at his paws, he found the pink flesh there growing smaller. "Damn it," he frowned, but his head was especially fuzzy. He felt someone move up behind him and looked up to see the draolf towering over him as he continued to grow smaller. He had the most smug look on his face as he raised a paw over him, bringing it down on the rat's head.
"Gotcha," Kaji grinned. "Prisoner secured."
"But he's not our main target," Achilles reminded him as he rose to his feet. "Where did the fox go?"
"There," Odin said, pointing to a small hatch along the wall. "He's gone further inside." He knelt to inspect the opening, but it was no more than two feet wide. He turned back to the other two, a blush beneath his fur. "And I'm afraid we're too big to follow. What do we do?"
"We take him back to headquarters," Achilles said. "Interrogate him. And wait for this stuff to wear off."
Kaji growled. "And what happens if the fox achieves his mission before we catch up to him?" Achilles sighed, adjusting his glasses. "I guess we'll see when it happens."
"I'm still trying to establish a signal." "We have no life readings from the arena!" "Radar indicates approaching ships, sir!"
It was chaos in the control room, but the head Gamemaker stood silent, taking in everything and weighing his options. Six of the Gamemakers were busy elsewhere, three hunting the fox and three guarding the studio. That left the six of them to continue their normal tasks of monitoring the games and ranking the players. But that task had obviously been complicated by the blast.
"Everyone," he said, voice calm and collected. "Please calm down and focus." He looked to the Gamemaker at the control panel. "Keep trying to re-establish a connection. Whatever interference the explosion caused will be dissipating now. If everyone is still alive and well, then it's only a matter of time before the readings come back up."
He turned to the two Gamemakers assigned to the cannons. "That's why you two need to remain sharp. Go to the roof and man the cannons as usual. See what you can see from there and await word from us. Use the landline just in case the wireless isn't working."
He turned to the remaining two at the computers. Both screens were black, the systems shut down in the blast. "You two. You've been monitoring the stats on each player throughout the game. Even without the computers, you should be able to give us a ranking. Get it down as quickly as possible, so we'll be ready when the broadcast returns."
They nodded, and one set to work, while the other hesitated. "What about you sir?"
"I need a moment to think," he answered. "We have to prepare for the worst."
Dixie was sobbing in Kris's arms by the desk in the studio. She'd been crying uncontrollably for the last thirty minutes or so, but the skunk waited patiently with her as he watched Brantley yell at everyone else.
"Why the hell haven't the lights come back up yet?" she raged. She pointed a finger at one of the cameramen and barked orders. "Get some flashlights and then check the fuses! The backup should've kicked in by now, so find it and see what happened!" He opened his mouth to protest, but the glare in her eyes sent him scurrying.
She turned to the Gamemakers and glared even harder. "And you three! Make yourselves useful!"
"We don't take orders from you, Brantley," the largest said.
"You do now," she said. "This is a state of emergency. We do not know what's happening out there and we've got exactly no time left before the world starts to panic. This island will be covered in military personnel before we know what hit us if we can't get this broadcast back on the air. So I need you all to pay very close attention."
She turned to Kris, Dixie, and Illas, huddled by the desk. "That goes for you three as well," she said. "Back in the earliest days of the Games, they used to broadcast using helicopters and handheld cameras," she said. "It was discontinued after a few accidents, and the safer hidden cameras were installed throughout the arena. But we don't have a choice now." She turned to the Gamemakers. "There are three old choppers in the hangar by the bay. They're simple enough to fly. If you don't know how, I'll give you the crash course."
She looked to the three reporters. "One each in a chopper. Dixie, you're with me. And for God's sake, dry your face. We have to show the world that everything is fine, and we can't do that with tear-stained fur."
She turned to the camermen. "You too, get your asses in gear. Bring whatever you can find that's working."
She whirled on her heel and started for the door. "The Games are still on people! Let's MOVE!"
Lemuel was not certain what he expected to find when he opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was screaming as he turned to run from the bomb in the clearing. The dragon had been chasing him, but he hadn't listened to the lemur's warnings, and the world had disappeared in a blinding white light.
But now as he slowly opened his eyes, blinking up into the sunlight, he was genuinely surprised as the world took shape around him. The trees were still standing above him. There was grass beneath him. And as he rolled his head to the side, he could see the remains of the 'bomb' still smoking.
But how? He'd felt the impact...it should've flattened everything for miles. He should be dead. He was grateful that he wasn't, but he SHOULD be...right?
His body felt strange, and as he rolled over onto his knees to sit up, a wave of dizziness crashed through his vision. The world seemed to tilt and he had to close his eyes for a long moment before he found his bearings once more. He expected to hurt, to feel sore or feel...SOMETHING. But there was nothing. He sat up on his knees and opened his eyes slowly, but they widened quickly as they took in his body.
He was BIGGER. Much bigger than before, and not just taller. His clothes had shredded around him while he was unconscious, leaving him in just the black trunks that now bulged with a much bigger package. His chest was broader, abs rippled with muscle and pecs heaving as he breathed heavily. His arms were thicker, too, swollen with muscle as he flexed them, laughing with joy and pride as he watched them mound and flatten with each movement.
"Finally, FINALLY!" He laughed. "I'm bigger! I'm HUGE!" His laughter was loud enough to echo off the trees as he stood to his full height. "It's about time!" He grinned as he stomped over to the 'bomb,' giving it a kick and feeling it buckle easily and fall to pieces beneath his powerful foot. He brought his paw down hard over it, feeling the metal flatten beneath him with a satisfiying crunch.
"No more getting pushed around! No more 'poor little Lemuel!'" He lifted another hunk of the wreckage in his paw and crushed it easily between his fingers. "I finally have a chance! I finally have a shot at this! It's time for me to stop running and get serious!" He grinned and turned to the forest. "It's time for me to...to...."
He froze, his blood running cold as he saw what was rising just above the forest. The unmistakable dark red scales, striped with black, gently moving up and down as the dragon breathed. He extended across the edge of the forest, his body stretched out,, impossibly huge. "No," Lemuel whispered. "No. No. No no no no NO damn it, NO!" Tears stung his eyes as he turned way, actually stomping his foot. "It's not fair! I finally get big...and he just gets even bigger? How is that fair?"
His rage welled up within him, but he had nothing left to direct it at, nothing left to smash or destroy, so he just screamed it instead, a long wordless cry into the sky, his breathing ragged as he let the sobs tear from his throat. A moment later he was slumping down against the ground, on his hands and knees, long striped tail curling in the grass. "It's not fair," he whimpered.
And then he felt it. The subtle vibration, a tiny tremor in the ground. His head snapped up, face still streaked with tears and heart racing. The dragon was stirring, rolling over in the trees, the thick trunks snapping like twigs beneath him as birds took to the sky, screeching in anger and fear. He let out a long sigh, smoke trickling from his nose and mouth as his tail curled through the forest.
"Oh no...no," Lemuel whispered, his fear overwhelming everything now. "He's waking up...he's...no, no no." He looked around frantically, eyes scanning the horizon. He could make out other large shapes over the tree tops as he stood, but at 45 feet tall, he wasn't tall enough to see very far. There didn't seem to be anyone else stirring, though the dragon was certainly not the only one who had grown much bigger. On the opposite horizon, he could see the city looming.
He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, closing his eyes as he tried to think. If he ran to the city, he could look for the key. But if he got caught, he was utterly helpless against these titans. He needed an ally, someone to watch his back and keep him in the game a bit longer. The dragon would be no use...the dragons had so far had only been destructive and eager to capture anyone in their path.
But there were others he could turn to. The lion and the tiger...they seemed to be nice enough.The tiger especially seemed more concerned with his mate than with winning. Maybe...maybe he could convince them to let him tag along? He'd only gotten a glimpse of them by the lake, but they seemed to have allies. And as he looked out over the treetops, he could see what looked to be golden fur rising above foliage.
It was his best bet, he decided. If the cats couldn't or wouldn't help him, he was as good as captured anyway. And as the dragon made another soft sound in his sleep, drawing his attention once more, he knew at least that he couldn't stay here.
He took off at a steady run, trying to be as quiet as possible as he crossed the clearing and dove into the brush. A moment later he had disappeared, leaving nothing but light pawprints in his wake.
The gray dragon stirred slowly from the spot where he'd fell when the bright light swept over him. It had hit him like a fist, his body growing weak and stumbling,falling over the trees and down, down into the blackest darkness he'd ever known. It had hit him with such force that he'd expected to feel pain, but as he slowly woke and stretched his arms and legs, he felt...incredible. It was the best 'sleep' he'd had in a while, or...or something else had happened to him. As he stirred, and took in the smaller red dragon lying unconscious next to him, he realized it must have been the latter.
Achak had always been a thick, muscled guy, but now he was bigger than ever, body swollen to ridiculous proportions. His pecs were large enough that he had to bend his body to see the swelling of his abs and groin. His legs and arms were thicker, too, bulging with muscle, completely dwarfing the smaller red dragon below. He grinned at the thought of Slyther's reaction when he awoke. He was easily twice Slyther's height now, which he knew wouldn't sit well with him.
He had to wonder, though, what had happened to them? What was that bright light? He heard someone screaming somewhere nearby, but he didn't recognize the voice. Could there be others who were hurt?
He leaned over the red dragon, placing a paw on his shoulder and giving him a gentle shake. Slyther grumbled, opening his eyes groggily at first, though they grew wider as he took in the gray behemoth standing over him. "Slyther?" it said. "You okay?"
Slyther moved slowly, as though he were stiff, but he seemed to be coming around quickly. "Achak? What happened? You...you look HUGE!"
The gray dragon grinned as he watched the red dragon stand and look himself over, shaking the leaves from that black mane. "You got bigger, too," he noted. "Just not as big as me!"
Slyther frowned as he noted that he had grown bigger...from 21 to nearly 63 feet tall. But as he looked up at Achak, shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun, he could see that Achak was easily twice that...he barely came up to the gray dragon's bulge! He must be at least 180 feet...maybe more!
"How?" he asked, trying not to spit the word. They suddenly grow huge, and of course Achak is the one who gets biggest. But if he could figure out how, maybe they could do it again.
But the gray dragon shrugged. "No idea," he said. "But I heard screaming over there," he said, pointing over the tree line. "Maybe we can find some answers."
Slyther nodded. He'd rather head straight for the city, but at this point, if he could get bigger, he'd take it. Especially if they weren't the only ones who grew while they were sleeping.
"Come on then," he said. "Lead the way, big gray."
Achak chuckled, and couldn't resist the mischievous grin that spread across his face. "Want me to carry you? Might go faster than waiting around on you to catch up."
"Just try it," the red dragon snarled, "and I'll prove to you that big and muscled is no match for a pissed off dragon."
Achak laughed as they started through the trees. At his size, it was like wading through waist-high grasses, the branches and tree-tops brushing and tickling his thighs and groin. But he stopped as they approached, voice quiet, and the red dragon nearly crashed into him.
"What are you doing up there?" Slyther frowned, trying to find his footing.
"Slyther," the gray dragon whispered, "you need to see this." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kaiser vaguely heard the screaming, so far away, so far below him. In his dream, he had grown huge, his paws crushing everything as people ran and screamed. He laughed as a sneer curled his lips, feeling nothing but contempt for those below, and pride in his size and power.
That sneer curled his lips as a smile as he turned over in the arena, the trees crunching beneath him. They tickled and brushed at his body as he moved, bringing him around a bit, the screams fading as his eyes began to flutter open. He stirred slowly, stretching his body and hearing more loud snaps from beneath him a the trees buckled and broke. He rolled over on his belly with a groan, paws sliding over the fallen trees as he looked at them, puzzled.
He sat up slowly, his head swimming. He remembered hearing the little lemur screaming before, and he looked around slowly to see if he was nearby. He had said something about a trap, and Kaiser had looked up just in time to see...to see what? A bomb? The next thing he remembered was a bright light and the dreams.
But as he looked down at the flattened trees beneath him, he knew that he'd missed something. He'd been right at 60 feet tall before, but he was bigger now...MUCH bigger, at 540 feet tall. Whatever that thing was, it was full of something like the growth rays. That must be why the trees were still standing while he had been flattened. It had no effect on the plants, but it must have hit anyone with a tracker hard.
He rubbed his forearm idly as the thought crossed his mind. Were they even functioning now? The trackers and the cameras...and the weapons? And what about the other players? If they were all hit with the blast, did they all grow as well?
He leaned in close to the clearing, inspecting the ground and finding a small set of footprints heading off into the trees. It had to be the lemur...but was that as big as he got? Had it affected people differently?
His mind was still racing when he heard someone call to him, making him turn to find a small gray dragon moving through the trees. "Hello!" he said, waving a hand at him. "You okay, big guy?"
Kaiser sat down in the clearing and folded his legs, but somehow still managed to easily tower over the gray dragon. He didn't even see the red one until he emerged into the clearing. He couldn't resist a chuckle that sent smoke rolling from his nostrils. "I'm okay," he teased. "But you two look positively puny."
The red dragon growled up at him. "We can't all be overgrown loudmouths," he snarled, but Achak stepped between them.
"Ignore him," he said. "It'll be better for everyone."
Kaiser raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm assuming you want something if you dared to get this close," he said. "Most smart people would've run."
Achak grinned at him. "Why run when we could be allies?" he said. "We're all reasonable people here, after all. And we still have a lot of competition left."
"Sorry, I already have allies," the striped dragon answered. "Why do I need you two?"
"Because your allies aren't here," the red dragon shot back. "And because you weren't the only one who got big."
"He's right," Achak nodded. "And your big red friend did not make a lot of allies with his rampage on day one. Do you think the cats or the dogs will just let you take the crown all by yourself? They'll overwhelm you, just like they did Kiran."
Kaiser rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "So what do you propose?"
"I propose we watch each other's backs," Achak said. "And I propose we work together to eliminate our competition. It's the only way we'll be sure to make it to the final rounds."
Kaiser grew quiet for a moment, his paw idly rubbing his abs as he thought over the offer. They made a good point...from what he'd seen earlier, the cats seemed to have quite a few allies, though he had no way of knowing who made it through the last round. But if they all made it through, and they all got bigger, he was definitely going to be in trouble without Drago or Sabrewing.
He slowly extended a huge red paw to shake Achak's. "It's a deal," he said. "At least for now." He grinned, flashing fangs to both of them. "So what's the plan?"
Nieve was the first to wake. Actually, he'd barely spent any time unconscious, unlike the rest of his group. The big lion had been standing at the edge of the lake when the bright light had washed over them. He'd felt himself falling, heard the splash, felt the chill water surrounding him, but his body went limp and he rose to the surface where he floated for several minutes as his body had grown and stretched.
The water helped bring him around quickly, but by the time he woke, there was no danger in him drowning. He'd been 108 feet tall when the explosion occurred. But when he woke, he practically filled the lake all on his own at over 433 feet tall. But his first thought wasn't for the huge, hulking new body, but for his friends and mate on the shore.
They lay where they'd fallen, and he was relieved and pleased to see that all of them had grown. Skarlath had shielded them somewhat from the blast and was all the bigger for it. He'd only been a few feet taller than the lion when the blast hit, but now...he lay stretched across the forest, a massive 815 feet tall, his enormous size making him look like a dark, sleeping mountain. Nieve actually considered moving his other allies somewhere safe...if the wolf rolled over, after all, they' be crushed! But Skarlath, though breathing steadily, showed no signs of waking or movement just yet.
Zev had grown as well, growing from 14 feet to over 126 as he slumbered. His muscles were huge and bulky, and the lion wondered if he'd even be able to put his arms down, or see over those huge, delicious pecs. The barbarian's glove had only added to the effect of his growth, leaving him a huge monstrously muscled fox...one that Nieve hoped to get his hands on after dark.
Cailean had also started small, but the liger had grown as well. He'd been shielded from the worst - or best - of it by the big wolf, but he'd bulked up to nearly 72 feet tall. He lay on his side, mass of golden mane lying around him, and he looked beautiful in his sleep. Nieve felt a swell of pride in his chest as he gently tapped him on the shoulder to wake him.
And of course, last but not least, he found the tiger lying on the rocks. The poor thing hadn't caught a real break for the entire game, but now, at last, he'd grown as well. His fur was damp and clinging to swollen muscles, his chest heaving slowly with each deep breath. There was no sign of the wound he'd suffered earlier when Kiran destroyed the rest station. Whatever these weapons did to them, it was all erased as they grew.
He lifted the tiger gently in his paws and raised him up to his face to look him over. Kindle had grown to around 63 feet tall from the blast, but the lion was so much bigger and stronger, it felt as though he were holding nothing. Kindle looked so peaceful and fragile in his hands the almost hated to wake him. But he needed to be awake if he was going to stay in this fight.
He leaned closer and ran that huge feline tongue gently over his mate's face, and the tiger immediately began to stir. He blinked slowly, rolling over in his paw and pushing at the tongue that slid over him once more. When Nieve pulled back with a grin, Kindle looked up at him with wide, awed eyes. "Morning, babe," he said, still groggy, apparently. "Did I...did I fall asleep?"
The lion chuckled, a deep rumbling sound as he held Kindle up to see the others as they woke. "We all did," he said. "There was some kind of explosion, and it made us all grow."
Kindle frowned and looked down at himself, but honestly, sitting in his lover's paw, the only evidence that he'd gotten any bigger was the fact that his clothes had finally shredded away, leaving him in nothing but the black trunks. He finally chuckled and grinned up sheepishly at Nieve. "Guess I've still got some catching up to do then."
Nieve grinned back as they watched Skarlath sit up, easily towering or them all. "I think we both do, babe."
Skarlath rubbed his eyes sleepily and frowned. "My cape is gone," he said. It was the first thing that sprang to mind. But as he became more alert, his eye widened. "What happened? Was that...was that the key they were talking about?"
It was Zev who answered from below. "I don't think so," he said. "Why would it make us all grow? Who would it benefit?" He shook his head slowly, though, as Nieve had predicted, he seemed to be having trouble with the movement. His arms were so thick and pecs so huge that they pushed his paws away from his body, his shoulders so wide and muscled that there wasn't much room to turn. "Did...did anyone hear cannons? Or an announcement for who was captured?"
Cailean sat up and shook his own head. "No...I'm not even sure they signalled the end of the round."
"What if this was more of the crazy Gamemaker's tricks?" Zev asked. "We've been isolated here in the arena...but what if everything with the lake and now this explosion was caused by him...or her?"
"But why?" Kindle asked as Nieve lowered him the ground. It left him looking up at everyone, but he ignored that fact as he crossed over to the lake and took drink of the water.
"It's a good question," Zev said. He tried to rub his chin, but the new muscle required some extra maneuvering, but he was finally able to do it. "I mean...what would they gain from it...aside from the pleasure of seeing us grow bigger?"
Nieve chuckled. "You mean that's not enough?"
Zev grinned. "Well for some it would be! But there must be another reason, right? And who would even know how to make it happen?"
"Foxfire," Kindle said, rising from the rocks and licking the dripping water from his muzzle. "My dad was friends with their family. He said their son, Bradley, was obsessed with the games, and he loved to see guys growing. He devoted his life to working on the weapons we use in the game."
Cailean raised an eyebrow. "So if it's that obvious, why hasn't he been stopped yet?"
Kindle shrugged. "Ratings?"
Cailean grinned, shaking his maned head. "I suppose. I keep forgetting this is a game."
"But are we even on tv anymore?" Zev asked. "Are we still playing? No one heard a cannon. No one has made an announcement. We don't even know for sure how much time has passed. So...," he shrugged his arms as best he could, "...do we keep playing?"
The fox looked from one to the other of them, but no one seemed to have an answer until the wolf finally spoke up. "We may not have a choice," he said as he looked over the horizon. "Looks like the others are on the move."
"Then we wait," Nieve said firmly. "And let them come to us."
Jakebe was thrilled to awaken and find that he'd grown. Granted, he was still probably the smallest player in the game at 16 feet tall, but even that was an improvement after spending half the game at less than a foot. His clothing was stretched and torn, so he finally stripped it away, leaving the white jackalope bare chested in his black trunks.
He had to admit, he felt pretty good about the turn things had taken. He still had some Cupid's Arrow left. He was still in the game while the rest of the field had dwindled. And he'd managed to get one over on those two big dragons. But he imagined that this might be the best he could hope for. With the exception of the husky, all the other growth rays were gone by now. His only chance now was waiting to see if the others would pick each other off before they found him.
But as an all too familiar tremor shook the ground around him, he feared it was already too late for that. He took cover against a tree and watched to see who emerged...and immediately felt a sense of relief and awe.
It was King, the massive masked wolf, uniform still intact and stretched over a massively muscled frame as he towered high into the sky, over 128 feet tall, just tall enough for his head to stick out above the treetops. Jakebe watched him making his way through, taking a few steps and then pausing to part the trees ahead of him, apparently scanning the forest for something or someone.
Jakebe chuckled and stepped away from the tree where he'd been hiding. "Looking for me, chief?" he called up, but the wolf showed no signs of hearing. "Hey, King, down here!"
Not only did the wolf turn, his cape swung over the trees and blacked out the forest. Jakebe frowned up at darkness...and then was completely swept off his feet by the wolf's immense tail. He clung to the massive fluff to avoid flying through the forest, and instead just barely missed being smashed into a tree trunk as the wolf's great tail swung around hap-hazardly.
Still, the huge wolf paid him no attention. He frowned and grumbled as he held on tightly, paws searching for the flesh beneath. He grinned when he found it and leaned in close, sinking his teeth into the soft pink skin.
The wolf's yelp was loud and immediate as he practically leaped above the treetops. He whirled around, seizing his tail in his paw and holding it up for inspection...only to find the jackalope clinging there with a dopey grin on his face.
"Citizen Jakebe! I've found you at last! I'm relieved to see that you are unharmed!" He held out a gloved paw for the jackalope and Jakebe eagerly climbed in. "You look bigger than the last time I saw you."
Jakebe scoffed and grinned up at him. "I could say the same for you. So what's the plan? You just been wandering around?"
"We made a deal," King said. "I couldn't proceed until I was assured of your safety."
"Well I'm safe enough," Jakebe said, "though you did nearly throw me into a tree there. Sorry about the bite."
"Not a problem, citizen," King said. "I barely felt it," he added, though he was still stroking his tail.
"Sure, a big wolf like you and all," he chuckled. "I suppose you wouldn't." He sat down cross-legged in the wolf's paw, face thoughtful. "But now the question is, what do we do next?"
"At the lake, the citizen players suggested a truce until the end of the round. But due to the apparent explosion, I am unable to ascertain whether the round is truly over," the hero wolf said. "My suggestion is that we investigate the source of the explosion to discover the villain behind it."
"Sounds reasonable enough," Jakebe agreed. "But before we go, do you still have your shrink ray?"
King reached into one of the pockets of his utility belt and retrieved it. His captives remained in the other, safely tucked away. "I have two shots left," he said, though it appears to be malfunctioning since the blast."
Jakebe took in his paws and looked it over. It did indeed seem to be dead, the trigger unresponsive as he carefully aimed it away from them, just in case. He frowned, but then a grin spread over his face.
"I know this seems bad," he said, "but this could actually work to our advantage."
"How so?" the wolf asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Think about it! If that blast fried your ray, it probably got the others, too! Which means that fancy bag of Mat's is useless!"
"Diabolical," King said, rubbing his chin with his free paw. "Could this have been an intended side effect of the blast? We must investigate further!"
"Right then," Jakebe agreed, handing the shrink ray back over. "But take this...and this." He reached into his trunks and pulled out the Cupid's Arrow. "It should work no matter what."
King's eyes widened behind his mask, but he nodded. "I am honored," he began, "but I'm afraid it's too small for me to apply myself."
Jakebe nodded. "Then hold me up!"
King put away the shrink ray, then hoisted the jackalope up to his shoulder to let him apply the cologne. It had a strong, musky scent, but his attacker would have to get really close for it to be effective. Jakebe worked his way around the wolf's neck,emptying the bottle in his fur.
"There," he said. "That 'll definitely help you more than me." He grabbed a fistful of fur and started to climb, scaling the back of the wolf's head and settling in between his ears. "I'm ready when you are!"
"Then let's away!" King said heroically, dashing off through the trees.
Harper was not a happy camper. He had enjoyed an all-too-fleeting moment of being the tallest member of his trio, and before he could even rub it in, he found himself the smallest once again...only this time, he was smaller by a couple hundred feet. He crossed his arms and huffed as the 325 foot golden lab ruffled the fur on his head once more.
"HARPER!" Havak yelled. "Don't be sad! You just look extra cute and huggable now that you're tiny!"
"I'm not tiny!" Harper protested, waving the big dog's paws away. "I'm like 170 feet tall! You're just totally overgrown!"
The blue husky rolled his eyes. "I see you two haven't changed a bit," he said. "Still as silly as ever!"
"Yep!" Havak said happily, leaning in to lick Jhusky's face. He had grown nearly 25 feet taller than the husky in the explosion. "I'm so glad we're all together again!" Before either could protest, he had swept them both up in his arms. "I told you labrador was coming for you and I totally found you!" His tail wagged happily behind him as he squeezed them both tightly, to the point that they could barely breath.
"Havak!" the fotter squeaked. "Focus!"
Havak stood a little straighter and let the two of them go, giving them a salute. "Yes sir!"
Harper sighed with relief and exhaustion, but Jhusky chuckled. "Well I'm glad you have all that energy," he said, "because we have to figure out what we're going to do next."
Harper folded his arms again and looked up to the blue canine. "You have a plan?"
Jhusky grinned. "I have a reset card," he said, "which could prove to be a game-changer if we use it on the right person."
"Maybe," Harper agreed, "but it won't get us any bigger, will it?"
Havak frowned and slumped down to sit on the ground, some of the smaller trees bending beneath his rump. "That's terrible! I want to get bigger and bigger!"
Harper nodded. "Me, too, but all the growth rays and things will be gone by now. That just leaves the gloves, and the cats have all the gloves now." He started counting on his fingers. "Skarlath had one to start with. Nieve took Artemis's glove. Cailean got Conner's gloves. And one of them has Elrabin's now, too."
Havak whimpered. "It's a cat monopoly! How do we compete with that?"
Jhusky sighed. "It's tough, but if we put our heads together, I'm sure we'll come up with something."
He realized the poor choice of words a moment too late as the lab pounced them both, squeezing them tightly again and pressing their heads together. "Then let's do it!" he barked, face much too close to theirs. "Labrador is coming for THEM!"
The green dragon sighed peacefully as he lay in the crushed forest, unwilling to get up for the moment. It had already been a long day, full of too much action for his tastes. He wasn't adverse to fighting, but he would rather avoid it, especially if he cold simply lay here instead.
He'd only just begun to look for Drago when the explosion came, knocking him flat on his ass. He'd woken slowly, and even after realizing he'd grown to almost 900 feet tall, he felt reluctant to rise and fully reveal himself. After all, the sun felt nice on his scales, and the tree kept most of his huge, lithe form concealed so long as he kept himself flat. That was more difficult than it sounded, considering the huge mounds of muscle he possessed. His yellow pecs were huge and swollen with power, the tuft of red chest fur nearly hidden in the cleft between the mounds. His arms and legs were thick now, too, and even his tail was more powerful, sweeping down trees as it moved. He kept his wings folded behind him, else their wingspan would have covered half the forest.
It wasn't a perfect solution, but maybe he could skip this round? He was already growing bored with the games. Yes, he wanted to be big, but it was no fun if he couldn't show it off...and way out here on the island, being big certainly didn't make you special. Best case, it made you strong enough to keep yourself in the games. Worse case, it made you a target.
The thought reminded him of Drago, which made him sigh. He HAD promised to help him and Mat through the games. And it wouldn't be so bad if Sabrewing won himself, right?
Slowly, he sat up, towering high over the treetops. As he predicted, he could see all of the taller players...and they could see him. He kept his face carefully neutral until he spotted Kaiser, who waved to him. He got to his feet warily, watching for any sneak attacks, but as he stood to his new full height, he actually saw a few of the others ducking down and cowering. He couldn't help but grin as he started towards his fellow dragons.
Each massive footstep caused the ground to shudder and shake beneath his incredible size and weight. His forked tail left a trail of destruction behind him without him even realizing the damage he was inflicting to the forest. Even Kaiser seemed to flinch when he stood above him, and the two smaller dragons seemed to withdraw even more.
"Kaiser," he grinned. "You're looking well."
"You smug bastard," Kaiser grinned back. "How'd you get so big?"
The green efreet smiled down. "Just lucky I guess," he said. "Who are your friends?"
Kaiser gestured to the gray and red dragons. "Achak and Slyther. They want to team up with us. Though looking at you, I'm not sure we need their help!"
"I don't know, an extra paw or two never hurts," he said, and then he chuckled. "If they become a bother, we can always feed them to Drago."
Kaiser laughed, but the two smaller dragons both gave him wide eyes. "You wouldn't really do that, right?" Slyther asked, staring up at him as though he were ready to run.
"No," Sabrewing said, squatting down to put him close enough to rub a finger over the red dragon's head. "I'd just eat you myself."
Slyther made a big show of pushing his finger away, as though it were an impressive feat. But they all knew there was no way he could make that finger move unless Sabrewing wanted it to. He crossed his arms and looked up at him petulantly, which only made the green dragon's grin widen.
"So what's the plan?" he said. "I'm guessing you have one?"
"We pick off the last few stragglers, then take down the other groups one by one," Kaiser said. "Then we all head for the city and look for this so-called 'Key to Victory.'"
He didn't like this plan. It involved them all risking their survival in the games to take out others, people with just as much to lose. But he didn't have a better one, at least not yet. "Do we have our first target?"
"Maybe," the striped dragon said. "We're still discussing it. And speaking of targets...have you seen Drago?"
Yuri didn't even bother to try to hide himself anymore. What would be the point? Yes, he'd grown, just like everyone else seemed to. But he was still small, much smaller than most at just 37 feet tall. In most cities he'd be monster. Here he might as well have been an insect. The huge green leviathan had moved right past him without even seeing him.
He had to admit, though, that even a relatively small amount of growth was better than none. His pecs and chest were bigger, thicker, and his arms and legs were heavy with muscle. He could only imagine what it felt like to be as big as the dragon.
But he still had the Cupid's Arrow. If he could just get one of the big beasts under his control, it might not be too late. But how would he get their attention?
The lion's mind raced as he pulled the bottle of cologne from his trunks and sprayed himself down with it, emptying the bottle and covering himself in a strong, arousing musk. He tossed aside the empty bottle and rubbed the cologne deep into his fur, so deep he might never get it out.
When he was satisfied, he stood and thought about who he might target. Byron had turned out to be a fantastic servant and friend, but there weren't many solo targets left, if any. The dragons would almost certainly be no help. But the cats were a possibility. He knew Zev, and had met Nieve and Kindle outside the arena. They might even help him without using the cologne.
It was worth a shot at least. He wasn't sure where they were camped, but the lake seemed like a good place to start. As the green footsteps receded in the opposite direction, Yuri turned towards the water and started walking.
Mat awoke on a sea of red, his bag still hanging from his shoulder. He had only just been reunited with his mate when the blinding flash of light blew everything away. Now all he saw was red, red, red in every direction. It took him longer than he would've liked to admit to realize that the sea of red was Dragonien's chest.
The red dragon had been big before, much bigger than Mat, but now he was monolithic, 1,080 feet tall, and snoring loud enough to wake the heavens...or at least terrify everyone in the arena. Mat wasn't entirely sure how to wake him...or even if he should. But an idea popped into his head that brought a smile to his face.
He quickly sifted through his bag and found the growth ray. There were still two shots left in it, and he quickly pointed it at his chest and fired twice. Immediately the warmth spread through him as he started to grow. The explosion had left him 70 feet tall, but now his size tripled and tripled again, his chest swelling and expanding, his arms growing thicker with muscle. His jeans had shredded while he was sleeping, allowing him to watch as his quads, calves, and paws grew bigger and bigger with each passing second.
He grinned to himself and lay flat against the dragon's chest, propping his chin on his paws as he continued to grow, his body sliding along Dragonien's, husky tail curling high into the sky. He could feel Drago's body beginning to respond beneath him as his size and weight increased. He was over half the dragon's size when Drago's eyes finally began to flutter open.
Dragonien lifted his head groggily, taking in the sight of the husky on his chest as a big smile crept across his face. "Well helllllo," he said, wrapping huge arms around the growing husky. "There's my boy."
The husky grinned. "Now much bigger," he said, leaning forward to smooch the dragon on the snout. His body slid along the dragon's, groins rubbing together as his growth began to slow, leaving the husky just over 622 feet tall. "Although not as big as you it seems."
The dragon sat up quickly, the husky settling in his lap as he returned the kiss. When he broke away, he pressed his forehead to his husky's, grinning. "I'm so glad you're safe."
"And not just safe," he said, pulling the bag into his lap between them. "Powerful."
The dragon's paws slid down the husky's back to squeeze his rump. "A perfect combination," he grinned. He leaned in and kissed along the husky's neck, as the smaller canine moaned and wrapped his arms around him in return. The dragon's paws slid up Mat's backside just enough to slip inside his trunks, cupping his bare ass as his tongue slid along the husky's cheek, darting along his ear.
Mat let out a long shuddering sigh, his breath warm on the dragon's neck as he whispered. "God, that feels good, babe. It feels like forever since we were together."
"A day without you," the dragon whispered, "is one too many."
Mat grinned and squeezed the dragon tightly, curly tail wagging happily as he kissed along the dragon's neck and started to make his way down his chest. His tongue lapped across the dragon's pecs, and the dragon squeezed his ass tighter, pulling the trunks down to expose him.
He had nearly succeeded, too, when a voice rang through the arena. "PUT YOUR DAMN PANTS BACK ON. THIS IS BROADCASTING LIVE!"
The small fleet of helicopters appeared over the arena, spreading out across the expanse of it. Each one carried a speaker mounted beneath, and Brantley was at the microphone.
"We apologize to our competitors and our fans around the globe. We obviously had some technical difficulties today, but as you can see, the Games are still on!"
She gestured to the Gamemaker at the controls to take her into the center of the arena as Dixie clung to her seat and the cameramen leaned out of each side. "We are coming to you live from above the arena, and all of our contestants are alive and well and ready for Round 3 to begin!"
"In just 10 minutes, the round will officially begin! I will be turning things over to our three announcers momentarily, but first I'd like to address our mysterious rogue Gamemaker." She leaned over and grabbed the camera, turning it to face her.
"You think you're clever?" She grinned darkly at the camera. "The Foxfires wrote the book on clever. I know you're in the arena, I know what you're planning, and I WILL find you. So let the games begin!"