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Chapter 5.0: That's got to Hurt

Devlin's Apartment

Some people feared the 'morning after'. Waking up next to the person you just wild, crazy sex with often threw a bolt of fear through their chests and cast doubt in their minds.

My morning after was no different.

My eyes gazed upon Chad's slumbering form, curled in a foetal position, back turned to me. His muscular, lean body so beautiful in the soft sunlight streaming in through the warehouse windows. Those warm rays washed gently over his russet and cream fur, giving them a tint of gold and almost making him sparkle in my eyes. A venerable statue of gold.

Perfect... and yet... He didn't know everything about me.

As doubt crept into my system, I turned my head over my shoulder where Dev snored heavily, one thick, veined arm crossed over his eyes, his right leg lying over my lap and the other one hanging over the bed, bare chest barely covered by the blankets. It was clear he was dreaming about something exciting as there was a suspicious bulge rising from the sheets.

Chad's polar opposite.

On one paw I had a soft, sensitive guy with a strong heart but whom I barely knew. In the other, I had a tough, gruff guy with a gooey, sweet (salty?) centre whom I had lots of history with.

Between them... I found equilibrium.

Yes, my morning after was filled with doubt and fear but when I lay between these two perfect men, as I wavered, all I had to do was look into the slumbering figure of the opposite man and I would find myself on stable ground again.

Devlin's snored provided ample coverage to hide my shuffling as I slid off the bed. It was unfortunate but all our clothes had been discarded back down on the ground floor and while I was tempted to steal some of Dev's underwear to get revenge over that day he stole my boxers, he was several sizes too big for me. If I slipped on any of his boxers, they'd slide right back off.

Besides, we're three guys madly in love with one another. I doubt any of us were going to complain about lack of clothing.

My feet padded softly against the cold, concrete floor as I navigated through Dev's room. Just like back to those days when I went over to his house, his room was a total pigsty. Random clothes were discarded everywhere and there were a few Valenese takeaway boxes stacked on a shelf. I think there was a closet buried somewhere but I wasn't sure. It made me giggle a little when my foot brushed over a certain pile and I noticed an issue of Todd's, a gay man's magazine.

I'd have to say, it was a pretty ingenious place to hide such things.

Dev's room was effectively the main office of the warehouse where the big bosses would work on their ledgers and manifests while overlooking the progress of the warehouse from the windows. For a bedroom, it was very spacious.

Yet Dev managed to fill it with discarded clothes and random, assorted junk.

Somehow, I managed to navigate through the whole mess and find my way to the door, pushing it open with ease. The biting cold of the warehouse hit me hard. I never realised how warm it was inside Dev's room. Whether he had switched on a heater, the room was just well-insulated or our antics last night just made things that hot, I wasn't sure.

I was suddenly craving clothing again.

From where I stood at the top of the flight of stairs leading to Dev's room, I spotted my pants and clothes all the way across the warehouse. Part of me was tempted to just stay put, jump into bed and snuggle up to the men of my dreams.

But if I woke them, they'd probably want sex and my ass was still pretty damn sore.

It killed me that they hadn't tied with me but those mating bites... God... Being given two mating bites at the same time... It just made me shiver with delight.

I practically skipped down the stairs until I reached the ground floor. I snapped up my pants and underwear, sliding them on and threw on my singlet. I didn't bother with the shirt just yet, merely folding it and placing it on the couch.

Some 'boyfriend' instinct kicked in at that point and I hurried over to Dev's fridge, looking for supplies. There were a lot of instant foods there. 3 minute meals and TV dinners that looked like they had expired three weeks ago. I winced when I noticed a rather nasty, green... something sitting in a tub that grew over the words 'Yogurt'.

I shut fridge with a wince.

This called for a very quick shopping trip. I slipped on my shirt and hurried outside. Fearing that the roar of the engine would wake my mates - ah, that sounded so right - I decided to simply forego the use of Chad's car. I gathered a crystal in my paws and threw it straight into the sky.

Flash.

In an instant, I was soaring in the air, wrapped in fresh, crisp air and the warm embrace of the sun. With a deep breath, I threw crystals ahead of me in the direction of Shellington City. Time was short so I made as few jumps as I could and maximised the distance between each.

Within a minute, I must've crossed about 30 kilometres and arrived in Shellington City itself, landing inside an abandoned alleyway. I emerged into the waking city and found a 24 hour shopping centre. I snatched a basket from the pile before rushing off to find the ingredients I needed.

Let's see...

I stopped at the deli first and ordered some bacon. That was delivered to me within a second and I thanked the clerk who gave me a big, toothy grin and told me to have a nice day. Encouraged by such a warm greeting, I snatched some eggs, fresh chives and some parmesan cheese.

Now came the hard part.

Finding some decent smoked salmon.

I gazed at the multiple air-tight packages that were layered in front of me, searching for my favourite brand. While I would gladly eat anything, I was in love. The last thing I wanted to do was to poison my mates or burn off their tastebuds. I wanted them to taste my cum, after all.

"Making your mom's salmon, cheese and chives omelettes?"

I flicked my ears up at the voice and spun around.

My dad, Isaac Reaper, stood a few feet away, grinning and pushing a trolley.

"Dad!" I exclaimed, joy filling my heart. I threw my arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly.

It had been a while since I had actually seen him physically. Even if I lived in the same city, it was still a rare occurrence to see my dad. He was usually busy either running the lab, analysing my current problems or blowing up the kitchen.

...

Wait...

I held him out at arm's length, his big grin blending well with his grey fur and sparkling platinum eyes. People said that while I got my mom's eye colour - sapphire blue - I got my dad's 'sheen'.

"Your shopping," I accused.

"Yep," he answered proudly, puffing out his impressive chest. Even if he was a scientist, he had maintained his impressive physique that he had built over years of playing VRCSs and almost making it to the professional leagues. He was broader in shoulder than me and his chest was much wider. His legs were his pride and joy, however. Even as he wore a thick turtleneck that hugged his figure very well, he still wore ridiculously short-shorts that showed off the defined division between his quads and hamstrings. Not to mention that thick vein that ran down from the side of his leg and curled down to his calves, briefly disappearing in the crook of his knee.

Yarf!

Stop looking at your dad's muscular legs!

I locked gazes with my father again before switching it to the contents of the trolley. My heart sank when I saw cooking ingredients there. Oil, rice, vegetables, an assortment of meats and... was that a whole slab of mozzarella cheese?

"Please tell me you're not planning to cook anything..."

My dad laughed and waved away my concerns... but he didn't actually answer. "What brings you out here, Jake?"

I gave him a penetrating gaze but resolved that I'd call my mom and warn her instead of just telling him outright to stop. Knowing him, he'd persist anyway and find some way to circumvent whatever defences my mom or I erected.

"I just had sex with Chad and Dev. I'm going to cook them breakfast."

Possibly the worst thing to tell my dad.

His eyes instantly lit up. "What!? Really? You did it with Chad and Dev!"

Crap...

There was no mistaking the tent in his shorts.

"You bottomed right?" he whispered, sliding up next to me and whispering in low tones. "Did they tie with you? Who's bigger?" He made this ridiculously perverted face. His eyes were looking off into the distance and his smile was a cross between predatory... and paedophilic... "Oooh... Dev was always like your brother, you know. You two were inseparable. Almost like your twin... Doing it with him is almost incestuous!"

WHAM!

I was grateful he had decided to buy a foot long sausage though I doubted he intended to cook it.

I held it in my right paw, tapping it against my left threateningly. "Dad... What I do in the bedroom is my business. Who I do it with, is none of your concern."

Suddenly, my father's expression darkened as he straightened while still rubbing the back of his head. "Perhaps it should be, Jacob, especially concerning both your boyfriends are potential targets for the Virulent Vipers."

My heart sank.

He was right... Patching up things between Dev and Chad was great and all but that didn't solve the looming problem of Cliff looking over my shoulder. I could sense he was just searching for an opening.

Was it even wise to leave Chad and Dev alone!?

I had to head back!

"Jacob."

I snapped back to reality. My father only ever called me 'Jacob' whenever he was dead serious. His eyes had lost their sheen and hard turned into icy, cold, metal orbs. "I don't think Cliff wields the Seal himself. Perhaps he wields a copy of the Seal but I doubt he is its main host. Nor do I believe he has the crux."

The crux... The object in which the Seal was originally imbued. Yes... I recalled in previous adventures, other people could wield copies of the primary Seal. However, they were never truly as powerful as the original. Only by destroying the crux could the Seal and its copies be obliterated.

"What makes you say that, dad?"

"The Dark Nexus has been conducting these illegal, fatal combat games since before you were born," my father replied darkly. "Since before I was born. They've been making raids into the real VRCSs games here and there, turning the projection into reality." My father took the sausage from my paws and tossed it into his trolley. He began pushing.

Quickly, I snatched the closest smoked salmon packet, threw it into my basket and followed him through the aisles.

"I've looked into the games where the Dark Nexus or one of its other counterparts in the other countries have conducted fatal games during VRCSs matches. I always get the same grainy image from the battle records."

"So?"

"The same image, Jacob."

The same...?

I remembered the filtered image my mom had sent me. The one that showed the Seal. Fear gripped my heart. Most of the Seals I encountered had only been activated within a few weeks or even just a few days and even then, their influence had spread so far and so wide that they covered vast swathes of land!

If this Seal - whatever it was - had been around for years...

"Damn..."

My father nodded grimly. "And you remember the Seal Break Effect, correct?"

"The what now?"

He gave me a sidewards smirk. "It's what I decided to call what happens when you break a Seal."

Right... Destroy a Seal and suddenly, everyone related to the Seal is erased. Past, present and future. All the events that occurred would be erased from time and no one would remember it except for those people where reality's rules were somewhat skewed. Like me or the gods... It was a reason Grim was always pissed at me. People who died during the events that led up to the Seal's destruction would come back to life.

Grim would never know what happened or why but he just knew he was missing souls.

Then it hit me.

"We don't know how long this Seal has been active..." I whispered.

My father nodded slowly. "Right... We don't know what will happen if we shatter the Seal. We don't know what technologies can be attributed to it or what events can be linked to its involvement." He gave me a sad smile. "Jacob... I met your mother because I played VRCSs..."

There, my heart froze.

What if... What if this Seal was somehow responsible for the creation of VRCSs...? Would that mean, if I destroyed it, my dad would never have met my mom and I would cease to exist? Would that even be possible?

This reality's laws didn't quite apply to me so would I just be forgotten by everyone?

Was that worth destroying this Seal?

"It's something to consider, son," my father warned grimly, continuing his shopping. "Anyway, I better hurry up and get all this together. Your mother will kill me if I'm late."

I paid for my groceries and headed back to Devlin's apartment, taking long leaps with large gaps between each. The spaces between each flash gave me time to think... and consider my options. Having two mates - again, such an awesome word - meant I had two people I had to look after. I couldn't defend them both at the same time.

So what was the solution...?

I reverted to that old thought of dropping Dev in a vat of radioactive waste.

Barring that and considering I probably couldn't take any more of him if he grew that way, I needed to arm both Chad and Dev. However, handing a gun to someone who doesn't know how to use it will likely cause some 'accidents'.

Upon reaching Dev's apartment, I came to a resolution.

I think I could still hear Dev's snores even as I stood outside. Either he snored very loudly or that was just noise carrying through the emptiness of his apartment.

My paw froze at the doorknob.

The last time I had stepped through this door, Dev was bench pressing Chad...

What would it be this time?

Chin-ups involving Dev's cock impaling Chad's ass as the husky wrapped his legs and arms around the muscular football player?

Push-ups with Chad pressing his own weight down Dev, his cock deep inside my footballer... as Dev flexed his muscles.

Wait... What was I complaining about?

They were my mates, right?

Why should I be so hesitant?

Old habits do die hard.

I gripped the knob hard, straightened my back and pushed open the door. To my surprise, no one was up yet. Or maybe they were and they just had wild knot-involved sex and were back a sleep again. Well, they can certainly go ahead and have fun for the moment.

I'll bring them some salmon, eggs and cheese with their sausages and cream.

Snerk.

Despite Dev's room being a complete and utter mess, his kitchen and the warehouse floor was surprisingly clean and neat. It made me wonder if he had cleaners come over. His cooking materials were simple but very effectively. I found a pan, oil and whatever else I needed to make the omelettes.

Thankfully, I didn't inherit my father's disaster-syndrome when it came to cooking.

I could even flip the omelettes relatively easily.

Once I had the first dish ready, I searched for some plates. In all honesty, I didn't quite expect to find more than one dish. To my surprise, there were two sets of everything.

Only two.

There was something significant about that...

Either way, it made things a little problematic. How do you fit three meals onto two dishes without showing favouritism? I could always get Dev and Chad to share the same plate but something told me that they would use that as an excuse to reignite the competition between them. It was flattering to have two guys fighting over me but it also hurt me a little considering how - and I now freely admit it - I love them both.

Two strong arms wrapped around my waist and a strong, muscular chest pressed against my back. The scent was musky but smelled of freshly trimmed grass.

Chad.

"I didn't know you could cook."

A wet nose and a warm muzzle brushed against my neck, his sweet breath brushing into the individual strands of my fur.

"You're not going to blow us up like your dad did that one time, are you?"

Meeting the parents for Chad had quickly translated to 'Oh-my-god, get out now and put the fire out on your tail'.

"I just had sex with the two men I love and realised that they love me in return," I responded calmly and with the slightest smirk. "I'm not about to burn the house down when I could have scorching hot sex."

Chad chuckled and gently brushed my left shirt sleeve up, drawing it over my shoulder and licking the spot where he had bitten me the previous night. A tingle ran out from where his fangs had lightly pressed against my skin.

My paws shook as I beat the eggs for the second omelette. "Chad... Be honest with me," I murmured, trying to keep my voice from shaking. "Do you honestly love Dev... Or are you just putting up with him because of me?"

His teasing stopped.

Uh-oh...

"Would you kill me if I said I was actually more physically attracted to him than you?"

...

Yarf!?

"What!?" I snapped, spinning around to face him.

Chad gave me that innocent, million-dollar smile. "What? Jake, let's face it. You and I both know that out of the three of us, Dev is the sexiest. He's got the body of a god, those chilling, intense eyes and did you see his cock! I swear, it's as thick as a beer can!"

Certainly felt like it...

"So... What am I then...?"

There Chad stepped towards me, wrapped his arms around my waist and held me tightly. "You're smart, funny and you really know how to romance a guy. Plus, let's face it..." He gave me a knowing look. "You know how to read people, Jake. You know how to tell what turns on a guy and what turns him off. Dev... he's still an awkward kid and something tells me he'll remain that way."

That surprised me. I thought Dev was actually coming out of his shell more and more. He came out of his shell, broke it and then spewed his cum all over it last night.

Multiple times.

"What makes you say that?" I asked cautiously. "I thought he's actually growing a little..."

"He's growing," Chad acknowledged, "but I think his greatest fear is being alone. It's not about growing, Jake." He licked my nose, making me giggle and squirm. "It's about seeing him walking without anyone holding his hand and standing by his beliefs regardless of what everyone else pressures him to do."

"What are you -?" My eyes widened as something just clicked in my head. "You're planning to come out!?"

Chad blushed under his brown fur, turning his cheeks from a russet brown to a deep shade of rosy red. "Well... Last night taught me a lot. I've got to follow my heart." He placed a paw on his chest. "And I shouldn't care what the hearts of others tell them to do or how much pressure they put on me to keep my muzzle shut. I am who I am. Not someone they want me to be.

"I play someone else on screen but who I am off screen is my business."

Pride and worry struck me at the same time. I had anticipated the day when Chad would come out to the public about his orientation. The media frenzy would be of apocalyptic proportions. Chad wasn't an established star just yet. Coming out at such an early stage could make or break his career. But no matter what, he would have his supporters.

Like Dev and myself.

Though I doubted Dev would come out just yet...

Give it three months.

"When?"

Chad got an evil glint in his eyes. "I'm thinking right after the sex scene that Linda invited you over to, I'll drag you into bed and show her what really gets me to cum!" A devilish grin crossed his face. "Hey, what do you say we pin her down and do it on top of her? I'll gag her if she starts biting."

"Are you saying that because you love me or out of spite for her?"

"Little from column A, little from column B," he answered, bobbing his head from side to side. "Hey, nothing more fun than angry, spiteful, loving sex, right?"

I really wouldn't know.

Before I could answer, Chad's phone rang. I knew it was his phone because his ringtone was me saying, 'Chad, you've got a caller' over and over again. We were role-playing and somehow he managed to call record me making that sultry innuendo.

"Your phone is -"

Then I realised exactly where his phone was

"What'cha think?" he asked. "Wanna answer it for me?"

His phone was hanging from a string looped around his semi-erect cock.

Yarf!

Just to taunt me further, he seized his phone and spun away from my, blocking my view of that rising cock and giving me an eyeful of his hot, firm ass. Damn... He was really toning up for his role in his movie. Made me wish I could get bigger and stronger without relying on my powers. I mean, I totally could... but I just never had the time.

Rescuing people from magical symbols that bend and warp reality provides surprisingly very little exercise.

I think Chad answered his phone but all the blood had rushed to my groin, depriving my ears of their use. My eyes felt like they were about to burst out of my skull and leap at Chad's ass, nibbling on that hot piece of bubble-shaped meat.

Click.

I snapped my eyes back towards his face as he turned to face me. That cocky, 'I know you want this meat' smirk was gone from his face. "Jake, sorry. The studio just called. I gotta run."

"But what about breakfast sex?"

That came out without me thinking.

"The omelettes!" I exclaimed in a ridiculously high-pitched voice.

What about the omelettes, idiot? What!?

"They're called 'Breakfast Sex'."

Quick! Think why!

"Because they're like an orgasm in your mouth..."

...

Epic fail.

Chad looked on the verge of laughing. Somehow he kept it inside and bent over, kissing me passionately. He cupped the base of my neck, sliding his erect cock between my legs. I know it's girly but I couldn't help it. I ended up lifting my left leg up and gave a mini-squeal in his muzzle.

As our muzzles separated with a 'pop', he said, 'You'll have to cook me up some breakfast sex next time we have a threesome." He winked at me. "I've got work to do. But I'll see if I can sneak out of a few more hours or something. I don't think I've totally gotten over the afterglow of last night." He licked my nose. "But I'm eager for a repeat. How about tonight? My place?"

"Sure."

Like lightning, he was a flash of brilliance and was gone. He snapped up his clothes, hastily piled them on and disappeared out the door.

I was suddenly feeling very lonely.

The door sprang open again.

And Chadstone West blew me a kiss.

Swoon.

Okay, I'm good.

I wasn't sure how long I was standing there dazed out of my mind but it was only when the scent of burning fish filled my nostrils that I returned to reality.

My omelette wasn't even recognisable anymore. It could be a black pancake in a way... a black pancake with cheese, chives and charred salmon bits...

No.

I tossed my failure into the bin, relieved that I didn't cause an explosion. Cracking eggs was always a trial for me. My mom could crack one egg in one paw easily but I never could do that. In fact, I waste more eggs by tossing the inseparable mix of albumen, yolk and shell into the garbage. By the time I was ready to make Dev's omelette, I was down to my last four.

Dang...

Okay, focus...

Remember what mom always said about cracking eggs.

Be gentle but firm.

I glanced down at my erect cock.

Curse Chad and his insane, sexy dealings.

It was hard to focus when I had another pair of 'eggs' churning with their own 'whites'.

Growling, I cleaned the pan of the last remnants of charred omelette, poured in some new oil and cracked the new egg in a bowl.

The good news is that half of it went into the bowl.

"Damnit!" I cursed, wiping up the mess I had made with a paper towel and tossing the remnants of the eggs into the bin. "Okay. Version two!"

I picked up another egg...

Slorp!

Crrack!

I gazed back down at my cock...

To find Dev's muzzle wrapped tightly around it.

What the -!?

And now... my paw was covered in egg splatter.

"D - D - Dev...!? What are you d - d - doing!?"

A rippling gasp rolled out of my throat as he pulled his muzzle free of my cock and gave Little Jake a delicate lick, running from the base of my member all the way to the tip.

"Just getting some milk for breakfast." He smirked at me and kissed the tip of my cock, making me shudder. "Milk is good for you, you know."

"Please stop," I whimpered. "Breakfast..."

He took his time sliding up from where he knelt and rising to hug me from behind. With his much longer arms, he picked up a paper towel while keeping one arm around my waist. He wiped my paws gently before nuzzling me.

"Having a little trouble with eggs there?" he asked, picking one up gently. Those big, meaty paws were surprisingly deceptive as he easily cracked an egg with ease in one paw, letting the contents slide into the bowl.

"How'd you do that?" I asked, bewildered.

"It's easy." Gently, like a patient teacher, he placed the other egg in my paw. "It's all about balance, Jake. The balance of strength and dexterity. Tap the egg lightly on the bowl's edge. Just like this..." His big paw wrapped around mine. I instinctively let my arm go limp as he guided it against the bowl's edge.

There was a soft crack.

"Now... put your thumb against the crack..." With his guidance, I manoeuvred by thumb to the desired location. "Now, pull your fingers apart slowly, just like you were to stretch them out."

I did so...

And was surprised when the halves of the egg shell broke apart easily, leaving an unbroken egg yolk.

"Whoa..."

Dev nuzzled me lovingly. "See? You can do it. Only one piece of advice next time, Jake."

"Yeah?"

"Make sure it's over a bowl."

I glanced down at where the egg lay on the tabletop.

Oh...

"Where'd you learn how to cook?" I asked, nuzzling him back. "I've never been able to break an egg like that."

"Considering your genetics, I'm not surprised," Dev laughed, pulling away and leaving me longing for his warm embrace. There was just something about Dev that made me feel so safe... so secure. He picked up a large roll of paper towels and helped me clean up. He shut off the oven too. There were no longer any eggs to cook with.

We sat at the kitchen counter and I offered him the now cold 'Breakfast Sex' I had successfully made.

With a gentle shake, he rejected it. "No thanks, Jake. To be honest, I've learned never to eat anything from a Reaper."

That was an insult. My mom was a great cook. She made the best chilli dishes ever. Her motto was 'if you can still see after eating my chilli, I'm not doing my job.'

"You don't like my mom's cooking?" I asked, trying to hide the hurt from my voice. Wow... I had to memorise this moment. When is the next time I'm going to be defending my mother?

"Jake, your mom puts chilli in everything." Dev winced loudly as he sat back against the chair. "I remember that one time I ate at your house... I couldn't see afterwards!"

A blind Dev wandering around our house in the middle of the night was a very hilarious sight. We told him that his sight would return eventually. That night, however, because he was afraid of being blind forever, I told him he could sleep in the same bed as me and I'd hold him so that he knew I was always there.

Huh... I wondered if that sparked the relationship between us.

"So what's on the agenda for today?" Dev exclaimed, slapping the table enthusiastically. "Chad isn't here. Did you wanna go hit the arcade or something?"

"Arcade?" I repeated incredulously. Though I fought back the nostalgia of all those times we spent laughing and challenging one another at the local arcade. "What are you? Ten?"

He lowered his ears slightly. "Oh... Well, what did you want to do? Too early to go drinking..."

My thoughts went back to the multiple problems that were plaguing my mind.

Dev and Chad's safety... and this mysterious Seal... Not to mention Cliff.

"Remember that bet we made a few days ago?" I began. "About which game is better? Football or VRCSs?"

Dev's fur fluffed out and I could see him getting ready to attack. I raised my paw to indicate I meant no harm. "How about we make good on that? You've got a game tomorrow, right? How's about a little warm up?"

His fur flattened once more and he grinned at me. "Alright. I get to pick my three-man team and you get to pick your team. I don't know any VRCSs players though."

"That's fine. I'll pick them for you. I promise I won't stick you with a terrible player either."

Dev gave me a foul look. "You better not."

I grinned at him. "Trust me. The guy I have in mind, you'll love."

Chapter 5.1: It's just a Game

Arcadia Park

Arcadia was my old neighbourhood. Years ago, it was a quiet suburb where kids could freely play along the streets and have no fear of being run over. Parents and families were close and they would often go to one family's home or the other for a weekly game's night.

These days, Arcadia had transformed into an almost deathly silent ghost town. The families didn't know one another or if they did, they treated them as enemies and what they knew was bits of gossip or espionage for their own twisted version of suburban warfare. Kids never played with their neighbour's kids anymore. The streets were filled with raving revheads who would zoom down the asphalt, burning rubber in the middle of the night and throwing beer or eggs at whatever they could get their sights on.

Progress.

People expand outwards and leave what is considered 'old' or 'out of date' behind.

Being in Arcadia Football Field reminded me of that incident a few days back concerning two members of Dev's team who had been involved with a disastrous drug deal. While it occurred in Shellington Football Field in the middle of the city, the atmosphere of Arcadia and the field brought up an issue I had yet to address.

As I hopped off the bus with Dev beside me - hefting his big bag of football gear - I wondered if it was prudent to ask him about those events now that we were officially mates. I didn't want my curiosity to compromise our relationship but I couldn't help but feel like there was a connection between Dev's teammates' drug deal and Cliff's appearance.

In the end, as we crossed onto the large field where the game was to take place, I decided to ask before anyone else came to interrupt our conversation.

"Hey Dev, you think those two guys on your team that got arrested for that drug bust had anything to do with Cliff appearing?"

He gave me a raised eyebrow. "Not really. Why?"

"Well... They were dealing with the Virulent Vipers and Cliff is a Virulent Viper..."

Dev glanced up at the sky for a second and tapped his chin. "Huh... maybe... Now that you mention it, some of the guys on the team have been getting a little... bigger..."

This was what I wanted to hear. "Bigger?"

"Could be that they're just training hard, you know. But you remember Captain Bosch?"

"That bisexual lion who threatened me with death if I so much as breathed his cock-related escapades to his wife?" I answered with a smirk. "How could I forget? Think we can invite him over for a foursome?"

Dev's tail fluffed out. "Jake, I don't want to share you. You're mine."

I sniggered. "Right. What were you saying about him?"

Our pace abruptly slowed as we approached the field where four figures were already gathered. I recognised all of them. Bosch was unmistakable as the shortest of all of them but certainly the widest in terms of shoulder-span. Being unable to recognise my mate from a distance would be a crime. He had managed to get a good hour 'lunch break' but seeing as he was the star, he could make it as long as he wanted. The tall, reddish-brown furred wolf that looked like a taller, more muscular female version of Chad was unmistakably my mom and the slightly shorter, more athletically built, bespectacled grey wolf beside him was my father.

"Bosch put on a lot of muscle in the last few weeks..." Dev murmured softly, worry clear in his hard, icy eyes. "I'm not talking about just toning up, Jake. He had 16 inch guns about a week ago. 22 inches as of two days ago."

Six inches in the span of two days?

Was that even possible?

"He's got the body of a bodybuilder now, Jake. Some say that it's too big for a footballer. Too bulky. Can't move fast enough. Can defend well enough but you need speed, strength and size if you want to do well."

"I sense a 'but' in there."

"He looks big," Dev answered, nodding towards Bosch who was chatting up Chad about something that made the latter laugh. "But he's also fast. Fastest in the team."

"And you're quarterback," I observed.

Dev gulped loudly. "Yeah... See, I'm kind of scared, Jake. I'm afraid that this team... it might not exactly be the 'role model' team that I've been seeing from the outside. A lot of the guys are huge. Most of the uniforms barely fit them anymore. I'm scared that it might get to the point where..."

I understood even if he didn't say it. We were drawing too close to the rest of the players to speak of team conspiracies. But I saw Dev's point. His career was built entirely around football. If his suspicions were true, then if he was to perform at the 'level' of the rest of the team, he might just have to train just like how the rest of the team trained.

That might involve taking whatever 'supplements' the rest of them are taking.

"Dev... If you're ever pressured into being someone you don't want to..."

"I know," he answered, giving me an unconvincing sidewards smile. "People's perceptions of me. I get it."

The sombre mood didn't really put me in the mood to give my all into the subsequent game of football. Dev's team consisted of himself, Bosch and Chad. I was going up against my mates. How fun is that?

On the plus side, I have my mom and my dad.

My mom is super-powered and my dad he's my dad.

We lined up.

At that point, I realised I was at a severe disadvantage. I couldn't show my supernatural powers in front of Bosch and Chad still didn't know - I'll tell him soon, I swear! Add to that the fact that all three of them are way bigger than I am and I suddenly find myself severely emasculated.

My parents were bigger than I was.

Seriously, it was like dumping a shrimp in a pool of sharks!

"Hike!"

Yarf!

Bosch charged at me. My yellow belly showed and I merely sidestepped, letting him pass without incident.

WHAM!

"I got the ball!" my dad cried.

"Um... No you don't..." Chad answered, pointing to where Dev and my mom went down in a pile. "Your wife does."

"My mistake." My dad leaned over, giving my mate a predatory grin. Chad let out a loud yip. "I've got the balls."

I seized him by the collar and dragged him off Chad despite the fact he was claiming he had gotten a 'touchdown'.

Another line-up.

"Hike!" Dev shouted.

BAM!

The earth shook. Both Chad and Bosch were flung about a metre or so to the side as my mom shoved them aside and -

Kabam!

Dev lay on the grass, completely and utterly dazed as my mom stood above him, cracking her knuckles. Her green eyes were filled with fire and her muscles were flexing under her shirt.

"Whoa..." Bosch whispered softly. "Has she every played?"

"You bet," my dad laughed, helping him to his feet. "She disguised herself as a man to play in the boy's football team back in high school! Now she's a professional bodybuilder!"

The Captain of the Thunder Phoenixes gazed at my mom's enormous back as she picked up the ball, turned and flicked her tail at Dev. I think he may have had a concussion.

"She's not available for the season, is she?"

"Sorry! That hot ass is all mine!" my dad laughed.

For a second, Bosch's eyes widened... then they narrowed and he gave my dad a sour look. "Then why is your paw on my ass?"

From that point on, I had to essentially play the 'biased referee'.

I had to keep my mom from literally pounding Dev into the ground. She was literally on a warpath! Whenever she moved, Chad and Bosch would dive for safety and poor Dev who run as fast as his legs would take him. To his credit, he was pretty fast but my mom was faster. Being taller, having longer legs and fighting supervillains on a daily basis gave her abilities without having to resort to her super abilities.

I just hoped Dev's pride wasn't injured too much.

The good news, I think she got some of her aggression and negativity towards Dev out of the way.

As for my dad...

I had to keep him from molesting the other players.

If Chad or Bosch weren't running from my rampaging mother, they were trying to hide from my raunchy father. Dev wasn't safe either. At one point, my mom slammed right into him and left him on the ground, completely and utterly wiped. My dad opted to give him muzzle-to-muzzle. Proceeded my muzzle-to-cock.

I wasn't immune either. Stopping my mother tended to get me knocked away from time to time.

And my dad was a very skilled kisser - I mean, resuscitator.

Oddly enough, Dev's team was still winning.

Because my mom was just focused on Dev, it gave him the opportunity to pass the ball to either Chad or Bosch. My dad would chase one of them and the ball would go to the one who wasn't being hunted down by the horny wolf. I was no challenge to either of them. I was fast but I wasn't strong enough to tear the ball away from their paws.

But I quickly understood Dev's concerns about Bosch.

He was the one person I couldn't catch.

Despite his enormous built, he was zoomed across the field and scored touchdown after touchdown. No matter how fast I pumped my legs, I just couldn't catch up to him! I'll admit, I was feeling slightly green at that point especially since Dev's team was clearly winning.

But the game was far out of our reach.

Dev's team won easily.

The three guys hi-fived each other, cheering.

"Aren't you disappointed we lost?" my dad asked as we watched them celebrate. In typical guy fashion, they caught each other in a huddle, psyching themselves up before erupting into a mighty roar. Howls in Dev's and Chad's case.

"Not really," I answered, soft smile touching my lips. "In fact, I think this was a success. I got to see Dev and Chad actually working together. I thought the fact they wanted to go into a three-way relationship with me was just a way of them tolerating one another for my case but I see there is actually something there."

"So you're serious about spending the rest of your life with both of them?"

I waited for the hormone-charged comment.

When none came, I regarded my father who had an unusually serious face.

Uh-oh...

"Yeah, dad. I am." My parents were always my foundation in the world. However, it was still my life and if they disagreed with my choice... I would stand by it. I loved my mom and dad... but I loved Chad and Dev on different level.

"Jacob... Our journeys are different and it pains me to say this but at one point in your life, I think you're going to come across a door... and only two people who are one can cross that threshold. You'll have to make a decision, Jacob... either go against what is publically believed and shatter the door... or choose."

What was he talking about?

A door? Two people who are one...?

Oh wait...

Right... I wanted to get married. Call me a romantic but to me, marriage seemed like the prime example of unity. Fame, however, haunted me. Once again, there was that issue of the three of us getting married but then having to face the public... crossing that 'threshold' to face the world.

Dare I destroy the door and just shut ourselves from the world...?

Or just choose one?

"What if I can't live with just one?" I asked softly.

He gave me a gentle, reassuring smile. "Then you better build a big enough door."

My lips twitched upwards into a gentle smile.

"Besides," my father said, rubbing the back of his head, ruffling his brown hair. "I doubt you organised this 'match' just to get your fiancés to become accustomed to one another. Oh look, they're kissing."

I snapped my attention back towards the celebration. Chad had caught Dev and tipped him backwards, lips locked. The two were making out passionately_,_ their tails wagging madly. A bulge pressed up against Bosch's shorts.

"Some of your mother's animosity towards Devlin seems to have eased."

"Some," Rebecca Reaper confirmed, standing to my other side. "I still haven't forgiven him for what he did to you, Jacob. While I appreciate that you love him and you wish to be with him, I will make him pay and remember what he did. If you plan to marry him, I will melt the ring onto his finger."

Yarf...

"Mom... That's not necessary."

She grinned, cracking her knuckled dangerously. "No. But it would certainly be satisfying."

Double-yarf...

"Well," my dad exclaimed, loud enough to break up Chad and Dev's make out session and catch Bosch's attention. "It's time for the last game of the day! You're welcome to watch too, Bosch, Chad. We're going to the private VRCSs simulation back at our place for a little exhibition match."

Bosch raised his paws. "Sorry there, guys. I've gotta head back and run over the plays again just in case. Plus gotta make a few arrangements for transport tomorrow." He patted Dev's shoulder who was panting heavily, that tent in his pants turning quite... wet. "See you tomorrow on the field champ."

He then clicked his fingers and ran over to my mother. After some difficulty navigating around his erection, he pulled out four tickets and handed them to my mom. "Here are the tickets you requested, ma'am. VIP."

"Thank you Bosch," she answered, her tone turning soft. "Make sure to win the game or I'll have to jump down on the field myself."

"To be honest, you could be a one woman team!" he laughed. With that, he waved at Chad and Dev one last time before bolting off to his car.

"I've got to go too, Jake," Chad said, kissing my cheek lightly. "I'm still expected on set. I'll see you tonight, though. My place, remember." He winked at Devlin before bolting off himself.

And suddenly... it was just Dev... against three Reapers.

His tail tucked between his legs and his ears flatted ever so slightly.

"So... Um..." he began.

"Are you ready to get killed?" Rebecca asked, her predatory grin growing across her muzzle and her eyes flashing. "Multiple times?"

"Don't worry, Dev," I said, "you won't actually die. Trust me."

"You I trust," Devlin responded but he didn't say anymore than that.

"So what are we waiting for?" my mom said, cracking her knuckles again. "Let's get going."

"One thing first," I said, raising a paw.

Everyone regarded me expectantly.

I turned to my dad.

"Get you paw off my ass, please."

Chapter 5.2 Game On

Reaper Residence

"You've got to be kidding me!?" Devlin exclaimed.

It was kind of cute how Devlin was so nervous about jumping into a simulation. The suit that my father got him was - unsurprisingly - several sizes too small. It was big enough that he could fit his muscular frame through it but it was small enough that ever curve was defined, every valley mapped and every crevasse clearly visible.

"Didn't I tell you that you'll love your partner?" I answered with a smirk.

"Jake," he answered with a soft whimper. "I love you, but this is just... How exactly are you meant to 'win' when you're my teammate!"

I offered him a smirk as we stepped into the private indoor simulation room my dad had built under our mansion. We had a whole training facility under there courtesy of the Rillotian government who effectively sponsored my mom since she was a superhero. My dad had the simulation room built not only for his own nostalgia but also to keep both my mother and my skills sharp.

Across the room, my mom and dad stood in their own suits. As usual, my mom was looking squarely at Dev, ready to kill him. My dad was standing casually to the side, smiling innocently though I knew, somewhere in his perverted mind, he was plotting Dev and my hormonally-charged virtual demise.

Out of the two of them, I wasn't sure who was worse...

"The aim of the contest was to get one or the other to admit which one is better," I told Dev. "VRCSs or football. While we bet on who would win, that's not the reason behind the contest."

Dev growled and ran a paw down his face. "I swear, Jake, you're part fox..."

I took that as a compliment and squared my shoulders against my parents. "20 CP for weapons. 10 for armour. 5 for utilities."

"No Skills or Powers?" my father asked.

"No. I choose the Urban Apocalypse field." Our surroundings shimmered, the white, cube-like expanse fizzling out to be replaced by a desolated urban landscape. Concrete towers rose all around us, their windows shattered and structures dangerously unstable.

Just the field I wanted.

I turned to Dev and offered him a catalogue of the fields we had loaded on the simulation. "Here Dev, you choose the other field."

Dev glanced at the holographic plane and used his paw to scroll through the fields. "Huh... This one sounds nice... Paradise Falls."

My eyes boggled. "No -!"

The urban landscape was replaced by one of my dad's personal fantasies.

All around us there were marble sculptures spewing a suspicious, thick, creamy white liquid into a large pool standing between us. Waterfalls spewing the same liquid from the cocks of statues shaped interestingly like a bigger, more muscular version of my dad and I surrounded the rim of the circular landscape. There were even some statues where the two marble Jacobs and marble Isaacs were in creative positions.

I believe one had my cock buried deep inside my dad and white fluids pouring out of my dad's muzzle, a look of utter ecstasy.

Dev dropped the catalogue.

"Good choice!" my dad exclaimed, tail wagging excitedly. "Since you, Chad and my son are now a trio, I took the liberty of updating this place. Look!"

I know I shouldn't have... but I did anyway.

Behind us stood a statue of the four of us - my dad included - caught in a rather intricate daisy-chain. In a way... it was quite artistic... Perverted, but artistic.

"We are not going to fight on this field," my mom snapped. "I'll choose the next one. Firestorm Fields."

Our surroundings changed to a large, desolated landscape. A volcano churned in the distance while the ground beneath our feet cracked and twisted, molten lava barely visible between the tiny divides. The air was thick with ash. Spires of rock provided scant cover on the otherwise flat plane.

"We'll go with your field first, mom," I said, knowing exactly why she chose Firestorm Fields. It was nice, open and with very little place to hide. She was always a head-on fighter even against supervillains. Subterfuge was her weak point. A reason I chose an urban landscape.

"Alright." She smiled at me benignly. "Don't worry, Jake. I won't use my powers if you don't."

"I won't, mom. I promise." I then turned to Devlin as a big 1 minute timer appeared above our heads. A black cube of glass surrounded us, keeping us from being seen by our opponents.

"What now?" Dev asked nervously.

"Now, we equip ourselves," I answered. A holographic panel appeared in front of us each of us. "Okay. You've got twenty CP to spend on weapons. Pick something you're comfortable with. Remember, just because it's virtual it doesn't mean it's weightless. Your suit purposefully restricts your movements to simulate weight."

"Damn complex if you ask me..."

"No more complex than your crazy 'plays' and different positions," I retorted. "Don't worry either. When we change fields, we'll be able to switch our equipment again."

"Any suggestions?" Dev asked, looking completely lost as he scrolled across the holographic panel. "All this stuff... all these stats... it's nuts...!"

After some consideration, I said, "My mom will go for an all-out assault. She'll charge at you guns blazing. I think she'll go for the use of an intimidating weapon like a chaingun or a rocket launcher and pile on lots of heavy armour to charge at you. She'll probably equip a nice, big sword or melee weapon to deal the final blow. My dad will go for speed. There aren't any places to hide out here so he'll try to counteract my mom's strength with speed."

I rubbed my chin thoughtfully. "I think the best thing to do is to go for traps and use counterattacks to our advantage."

Some concussion mines and smoke bombs were my weapons. I still had 10 CP left so I went for a hybrid grenade launcher/machine gun. Armour-wise, I kept myself lightly equipped. I needed enough strength to dodge my mom's attacks. As a utility, I gave myself a teleporter gun.

Loading up Dev was different story. I opted to use his strength to our advantage and gave him a heavy loud out. A nice, big, energised riot shield so that he could defend against my mom took up his utility points. Armour, it was naturally heavy but there weren't enough points to give him a good suit of heavy armour. Enough to get his torso, head and legs protected. For weapons, two shoulder mounted rocket launchers took them up.

I made him a venerable mobile fortress.

Dev would be the tank and I'd go around planting mines to make sure that when my mom came charging in at him, she'll get a nasty surprise.

Perfect.

Our minute was up.

"First match,"_a metallic, feminine voice announced. _"Begin."

The black box vanished around us.

Our surroundings were different from the preview. The box had dropped us off in one of the 'spawn points' to ensure we just didn't start shooting at one another.

"Hey..." Dev began, "can you explain to me how we were in a room and now we're in a landscape that's heaps wider?"

"There are barriers around the field. They're designated as impassable pieces of land. Sometimes it's a pit, sometimes it's a metal wall. Generally, you'll know you can't pass through it."

"And how is it that we feel everything here?"

"It's the suit. When you reach something 'impassable', the suit stops you from actually moving. Same thing if you were going up stairs or something like that. It's just the suit reacting to the holographic surroundings. It simulates the effect of your movements even if in reality, you just look kind of stupid since your running in place or something like that."

"Don't you lose balance or something?"

_Firestorm Fields_didn't have very many places to hide but I had played enough VRCSs games to know where a good number of them were. Quietly, I nodded towards the southeast and we moved towards the location of a small rocky outcropping that was a perfect defensible position. Dev moved with ease despite the weight of his weapons.

"The holograms are semi-solid. So if the suit's restrictions aren't enough, the actual field is partially solid as well. People figured that making completely realistic and solid holograms would be dangerous. So while you can trip and fall and it'll hurt, it won't be enough to break skin. Even if it looks like it."

"Is that what Cliff did in your match? Make the holograms completely solid?"

In a way...

Weapons were completely virtual. Damage inflicted by them were only reflected in the internal workings of the suit, simulating pain depending of the level of the pain inhibitors. Meaning if I got shot, I didn't get shot for real. The bullets fired from the guns were just light shaped like bullets. It was impossible weapons fully physical hologram technology.

I heard from Dave - a scientist friend of mine and my dad's co-worker - that to calculate all the trajectory, speed and whatever else of bullets or any sort of projectile was just too much for the computing power of commercial simulation rooms. Seriously, some professional matches had up to sixty players. Imagine sixty players firing a thousand bullets each in all directions.

But what Cliff did...

"No. He used a Seal to make it real."

The clunking of his heavy armour stopped abruptly.

I turned around and found him staring at me intently.

"Jake... I gotta ask... These Seals... What do they do to people that they make them go totally nuts?"

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely," I quoted softly. "Seals bend the very laws of reality, Dev. They make the impossible possible. They encroach on the Gods' territory. In this cruel world of ours, if anyone was given the opportunity to escape, they will take it."

"But look at superheroes," he argued. "They have powers that you could say 'encroach on the Gods' territory. I don't know what 'encroach' actually means but I'm guessing it means 'messing with', right?"

That was cute.

"Sort of."

"So those people with superpowers can go one of two ways, right?" Dev said. "They can be good and serve everyone or they can use their powers for themselves. Are all Seal-users bad?"

I never thought of it that way before. It was possible there were some Seal-users out there who weren't rotten. My experience spoke different but I had always been directed by those stupid paper cranes against Seal-users who were corrupt and abusing their powers.

Who is to say there weren't Seals out there being used for good?

"Maybe Dev," I answered with a smile. "Who knows? We might get lucky and -"

"Come on!" a voice shouted from behind me. I spun and found my dad poking his head out from the rocky outcropping. "Are you two going to chat all day or are you two actually going to step on the mine I planted one foot to your left!? I mean, seriously! My balls are going to burst!"

I glanced down to my left.

Sure enough, there was a mine there.

Yarf...

I smirked. "Dev..."

"I know."

I flicked out my teleporter gun, aimed at the outcropping and fired. A small disc-like object shot out of the gun's barrel and soared over the pile of rocks. I pulled the trigger once more...

Flash!

In a burst of green light, I was suddenly hovering over my dad. I landed right behind him. I flipped up my machine gun and fired.

My bullets went right through him.

Isaac Reaper turned around and gave me a sad little grin. "Jake, you're getting too predictable."

Boom!

Game over.

I blinked and suddenly, Dev and I were standing in the white expanse of the simulation room once more. Well... I was standing. Dev was on the floor, my mom sitting on his chest, fist raised. He was trying to protect his face in vain.

"Please don't squish me!" he begged.

My mom's fist quivered...

She threw a punch -

... and flicked his nose instead.

Yarf...?

Rebecca Reaper jumped off my mate and cockily walked over to her husband, tail raised while Isaac was had a holographic panel in front of him, typing away at something.

"Jacob, you should watch where you're landing," my father said critically. "Your eyes are focused on your enemy but you should first watch where you're going instead of where your enemy is. Had that been a real battle, I doubt you would've survived." His gazed flicked towards me and for once, I was met by a critical, non-sparkling, platinum stare. "You're not a support fighter either, Jacob. You're a light, offensive striker. For all intents and purposes, your adaptability has its limits.

"Keep yourself fast, keep yourself sharp. If I were to compare you to a sword, you are a rapier. Built for precision striking not power."

I was waiting for him to make a lewd comment about comparing me to another kind of sword.

Instead, he turned his gaze towards Devlin.

"Rooks, as your surname states, you're built to be a tank. A castle against attack but that doesn't mean that's all you're meant to be. As quarterback of your team, you're meant to be sharp, analytical and a perfect balance of speed and strength. It was admirable that you tried to stand your ground but had you merely dove to your left, Rebecca would've stepped on the mine I set up and eliminated herself from battle."

My mom flinched. "What?"

"Dear, it was part of the defence grid I arranged, remember?"

He arranged a defence grid in the short time it took us to get to the mound? Hell, he decided to built a defence grid, equipped himself properly and got himself to the outcropping in that expanse and the minute it took us to equip ourselves?

I forgot just how good my dad was at this game...

"Onto the next match," my father said, stepping back and crossing his arms behind his back. "Stay to your strengths, you two. You're too young to be trying out new angles."

No perverted comment about the 'other' angles we could get in?

Dang... My dad was really serious about this. Even in our previous matches, he would always slip in a joke here and there. Maybe our conversation earlier in the morning had really unnerved him...

Now I was worried.

Our surroundings shimmered and we were once again consumed by the black box.

"Jake... Can we forfeit?" Devlin asked, rising to his feet. "Your mom is going to murder me if we keep going."

"Actually, I think she's starting to like you," I giggled. "Come on, one more game."

This time, I stuck to my dad's advice. I equipped myself with light armour and chose two wrist-mounted blades for melee combat. For ranged, I picked up an automatic crossbow. As a utility, kept the teleporter gun.

For Dev, I gave him medium armour so his movements weren't impeded. A nice assault rifle and shotgun for short-ranged combat was best and equipped him with two medikits and a stimpack for that extra boost should he need it.

Game on.

The sun splayed through the ruined, grey towers of Urban Apocalypse. I told Dev that I would scout on ahead and used my speed to get out of sight, quickly. Scrambling up fire-escapes made a lot of noise but I hoped that the fact Dev was out in the open and I was making a lot of noise would make both my parents split up. If I was faced against my dad, I was probably dead. My mom, I could deal with... hopefully.

Suddenly, I was starting to realise just how much I sucked at this game.

I reached the top of the building...

And froze.

My dad stood on the opposite side of the roof to me, dressed in a black trench coat marked with odd, white symbols. I recognised his choice of armour as a cloaking coat. His paws were crossed behind his back.

"There are tough battles head, Jacob," he said in a slow, grim tone. Slowly, he uncurled his paws from behind him. A large, ornate blade bit into the concrete in front of him. His paws gripped a gold and ebony hilt that led down to a pommel shaped like three interlocking chains arranged in a triangle. The long, white blade was decorated by the image of golden chains running along its sides but it still looked very sharp.

Starcleaver.

My dad's signature weapon.

During his reign in high school as the best VRCSs player, that was his weapon of choice. The claymore looked heavy but he could easily wield it in one hand and it held a deadly secret. May players were known to see Starcleaver's blade flying towards their necks before the dreaded 'Game over' screen flashed before their eyes.

"This is just one of them," my dad continued. "Are you going to defend yourself and win the game? Or..."

BAM!

"Jake! Help!"

I snapped my attention to my right.

Bad move.

My dad was suddenly in front of me. I could feel his breath against my cheek.

"... are you going to save Devlin?"

CLANG!

Shit!

I was instantly forced to my knees. My dual blades were crossed in front of my face but Starcleaver was hovering a dangerous inch from my nose!

"Stand for your beliefs," my dad warned ominously. "Or die falling to another's."

Lightning fast, he pulled Starcleaver back before spinning around and -

WHAM!

Striking me hard against the chest with his foot. The kick sent me crashing right into an air vent, making a considerable dent in the metal.

I couldn't take time to recover.

In the midst of my blurry vision, I saw my father lift Starcleaver into the air, gripping the hilt with both paws. He then pulled the blade apart, revealing two, long, lighter blades.

Crap!

He wasn't playing!

Boom!

"Jake! Where are you!?"

Dev...

My father spun back towards me and swung his blades upwards. The tips of the blades suddenly disengaged, sending the upper halves of the weapon speeding towards me! I barely had enough time to roll forward before the two extended swords bit into the air vent. Long, golden chains connected the blade's extensions to the two my dad already held. But I knew that wasn't all the secrets Starcleaver had.

Isaac pulled back on his weapon. I heard an ear-splitting creak and dared to turn my head over my should. The two extended blades pulled the vent off its hinges and sent it flying towards me!

I jumped to my feet and somersaulted...

... just in time.

The vent soared past beneath me.

As I landed on my feet, my dad sliced the vent into four pieces as the extended chains reconnected with the two halves of Starcleaver. He reunited them into one claymore and positioned himself once more in his iconic pose, back straight, sword embedded into the ground in front of him and his paws clasping the hilt tightly.

"Use your head, Jacob!" he barked. "Offense and defence are not so different!"

I took a deep breath...

The instant my dad saw that, he charged.

Crap!

I swung at him with my left-hand blade -

Clang!

_Starcleaver_tore right through it!

'Offense and defence are not so different.'

I didn't let my momentum stop and I danced around my dad. My feet left the ground as I snatched the severed blade out of the air and threw it straight back down at my father. He swung Starcleaver in a rising arc, slapping the blade back towards me. I deftly caught it in my left paw and -

CLANG!

Brought both blades slamming down against his.

"Good," he observed, his face impassive, his eyes solid platinum. "Agility and speed are your best weapons but without a solid head behind them, you're just running."

"Jacob!"

My eyes instinctively switched to the left.

"Don't get distracted!"

My dad pushed back on his sword, sending me staggering back. I didn't fight the momentum and let myself fall backwards, rolling back and -

CLANG!

Just barely avoiding Starcleaver from chopping off my legs. Concrete chips flew into my face but I ignored it and rolled back towards my dad! I jumped to my feet, scrambled up Starcleaver's blade, planted a foot on my dad's shoulder and kicked off, leaping high into the air.

I dared a look into the street below.

Dev was dodging and weaving away from my mom who was equipped with Seismic Fists, slamming the ground with the mighty, metallic gloves and creating craters everywhere.

Enough dallying.

I flicked my left wrist, sending my blade shooting back towards my dad.

His cloak shimmered.

He was gone just as my blade bit into the ground.

I landed, grabbed my severed blade from the ground and threw it to my right.

Thud!

Bingo!

"Impressive." My dad's form shimmered back into reality. The blade was embedded into his left calf. There was blood but it was just virtual. "How did you know?"

"You're right handed," I answered, grinning a little. "When caught off guard, you'd naturally dive towards your right."

"Good observation. That's a key to victory. Another is..." He bent down and pulled the blade from his leg. "Never leave yourself unguarded!"

He threw the blade back at me.

It was trick. I dodged the flying weapon -

Just as he appeared to my left.

I raised my wrist-blade to block...

... and remembered that was the blade that had been severed!

Crap!

I thought fast.

I flicked up my crossbow.

My dad's eyes flashed and abandoned the attack, rolling on the ground as I fired a bolt at him.

"Good reflexes." My dad split his weapon into two again before letting the two chain-linked blades out. "Without a sharp mind, reflexes are nothing. Now... Try to keep up."

Uh-oh...

I spun and bolted for the edge of the roof.

Even without looking, I knew that tell-tale click-click-click anywhere. My dad unleashed the full power of Starcleaver. From each of the swords he possessed - the ones in his paws and the ones linked to it by chains, a metal blade sprang out, each one connected to their predecessor by a long, golden chain.

A loud, wailing sound like a shooting star coming down from heaven filled my ears.

I dove to the right -

BOOOM!

Starcleaver- renowned for the howling noise it made and its appearance of multiple stars - came crashing down and tore right into the side of the building!

Sometimes I wondered if sex with my mom gave my dad super strength.

I slammed hard onto the roof and realised I was prone!

That wailing again.

I rolled to my right, never stopping even as - boom, boom-boom! - my dad's blades bit hard into the structure's roof, leaving large, star-shaped imprints where his blades and their chains slammed.

Suddenly, my left arm only met thin air.

Yarf!

I slipped off the edge of the roof and just barely had enough time to lash out with my left paw, seizing the roof edge.

Crap...

Game over.

I glanced down to ground level.

Dev lay on the ground, my mom cracking her knuckles as she loomed over him. Despite the fact he was clearly at a disadvantage, he wasn't begging. In fact, there was a defiant look in his eyes. He really did change over the years. If he was the Dev I knew at high school, he would totally have been begging for mercy.

A sharp pressure fell on my fingers.

My dad's foot crushed them.

"You fought well, Jacob," Isaac Reaper observed. "You still have a lot to learn, though."

Yeah... Something told me that this entire experience was all meant to teach me a lesson.

What did he say?

"This is just one of them. Are you going to defend yourself and win the game? Or... are you going to save Devlin?"

Wait...

A little lightbulb sprang out from my head.

"Yeah... But I learned a lot from this, dad."

"Oh?"

I lifted my crossbow.

His eyes widened.

"Yeah... Like for instance... Are you going to defend yourself and win the game?" I squeezed the trigger.

Ka-thunk!

"Or are you going to save mom?"

In that instant, my dad vanished, shouting for my mom. He threw himself off the side of the building. His speed was incredible. Might have installed some speed boosting utility. That would explain how he could cross the distance between us so fast. Or maybe it was an inherent ability of his armour.

Whatever the case, he raced the crossbow bolt to my mom who just spun around in time.

CLANG!

_Starcleaver_shook... My dad stood in front of my mom, his whole body shaking both with relief and shock.

"Are you alright, Becky?" he asked, genuine concern in his voice.

"Isaac..." my mom whispered. A gentle smile crossed her features. "Oh honey... I love you..."

My father relaxed, lowering Starcleaver. "I love you too, Becky."

"I love you both," I added.

Both my parents froze.

I had my crossbow planted against the base of my dad's skull and my remaining blade levelled at my mom's neck.

I won.

Isaac Reaper actually looked a little shocked. Then, his face broke out in a very proud smile.

He dropped Starcleaver... and lifted his paws into the air.

"You win, son. You win."

Chapter 5.3: Tie breaker

Reaper Residence

"So... What's the verdict?"

Dev pushed my muzzle away as he unzipped the simulation suit off his hot, sweaty body. "Okay... Okay. I'll admit it. VRCSs isn't totally lame. It's actually pretty fun." He gave me a smirk. "For a videogame."

I rolled my eyes and unzipped my suit as well, pulling my arms out of the sleeves. "And football was pretty cool too. Though I think next time, we exclude my mom and dad, what do you say?"

"Deal."

We laughed playfully in the miniature locker rooms deep next to the simulation rooms. My dad had only three lockers in there - for myself, my mom and himself. However, I wasn't about to let Dev strip in front of my dad.

"Jacob."

My mom stood by the door, my dad flanking her.

"Can I talk to you privately?"

"Can I leave you alone with my mate?" I asked my dad.

He raised his paw, a calm, serene smile on his face. "I swear on my wife, I will not screw your best friend."

His eyes were innocent and honest. Good.

"I'll be out in a second. First, a word dad."

I approached my father as he shut the door behind him.

"Mom doesn't know that Dev and I are a couple, does she?"

I hadn't missed the fact that dad had called Dev my 'best friend'.

"I figured that getting over past misunderstanding was a priority," my father answered, his smile revealing a bit of his more devious nature. "Telling her that not only are you in bed with your best friend whom you love and whom she begrudges and also bedding Chad would likely send her over the edge. I doubt your mate would've survived today's encounter."

True that.

"Thanks dad."

"Just looking out for you, son." He clapped my shoulder and headed over to the locker to undress.

I left him and Dev to get better acquainted.

My mom stood a few feet away with four packages in her paws.

"These are for you," she said, handing me what appeared to be handgun bullets.

"Huh?"

"I've reluctantly agreed that Cliff's capture and Devlin's subsequent training is of top priority for your safety," she said at length. "So, every week, I've organised for you and Devlin to come here and train with us. Perhaps we can get some of my superhero friends to come in as well to help."

Part of me sensed she was about to finish with 'to help beat Dev to a bleeding pulp'.

"Thanks mom... But what are these?"

"Cryo-Bullets. You father developed them. They effectively 'flash-freeze' your opponent, putting them into a temporary stasis. We've got the technology to thaw them out so use these on Cliff. You'll capture him, we'll thaw him and then we'll interrogate him."

I grinned and tossed the bullets into the air. "Sounds cool."

She rolled her eyes at my pun.

"So..." I began tentatively. "What do you think of Dev now?"

For a second, she closed her eyes... then let out her breath very slowly. "He's a good kid. I like him. I'm reminded of why I liked him in the first place. I suppose it is about time to put aside past grievances." Softly, she sighed and ran a paw down her muzzle. "If you can forgive him... then I see no reason why I can't forgive him either."

Her sapphire eyes regarded me worriedly. "I'm just worried, Jacob. I fear... I fear something big is coming. I know I can't stop you from charging in there and doing what you can but I just don't want you to get hurt. I almost lost your father one time... and I don't want you getting hurt in the same way I did."

Right... I had forgotten about that particular incident...

Early on in her career as the local superhero of Obscura - different town far to the east - my mom had gotten into a battle with a particular supervillain who wasn't beyond using underhanded tricks. She had actually kidnapped my dad and threatened him with a gruesome death. In fact, according to the medical records, my dad had died.

For a good three minutes.

He made it back, naturally, but according to my mom, he never loved her more from that point on. In fact, while he was still bed-ridden, he had ordered a diamond ring and the instant he could walk again, he got down on one knee and proposed. Of course he needed help getting back up again but the whole hospital cheered for him regardless.

"When Dev abandoned you that first time..." Rebecca Reaper began, "the look on your face was the same look I saw in the mirror when your father was in surgery and while he was fighting for his life. I don't want you getting hurt like that again. Ever."

"Don't worry, mom," I answered, smiling at her encouragingly. "That's why we're training Dev, right? So he can better defend himself."

"Right..." Her nod was somewhat hesitant but she still agreed. A sly smile crossed her face. "So, when are we going to train_Chad?"_

I didn't have an answer for that. "I guess when I tell him the truth...?" A sigh emerged from my muzzle as I massaged the sides of my head. "Thing is... He's not around that often before of his movie. Whenever I try to tell him the truth, he's always called out or something. One of these days, I swear I'll tell him."

My mom flicked out those tickets she had received from Captain Bosch earlier. "Well, why not tell him over a nice, manly sport of football?" Her sly smile reappeared. "My hunch is that that drug deal that involved Devlin's teammates is somehow connected to Cliff. Somehow. I'm not sure but I'll bet my tail on it. At the game tomorrow, we'll sneak into the team's locker rooms and search for evidence."

So that's what the tickets were for.

And here I thought she just wanted to see Dev play.

"Sounds like a plan," I answered.

It'd give me a good starter for telling Chad the truth.

Start with, 'Hey Chad, remember that long period of time during the game when my mom and I disappeared and came back with a suspicious package? Well... funny thing..."

... and end with, 'And because of that, I'm a superhero that can manipulate gravity, am tasked by an unknown entity to destroy these magical symbols that alter the very fabric of reality relayed by a mysterious paper crane and my mom is a superhero to. Oh and Dev knew before you.'

Yeah... sounds like a plan...

"I think I'm going to have to come up with a speech to give Chad..."

My mom laughed, clapping my shoulder and turning me back towards the locker rooms. "Good luck, Jake. Don't forget to tell him that there was a period of time that he forgot where he was a werewolf, he screwed you, turned you into a werewolf and you both had crazy werewolf sex where you harvested his semen to make a cure."

"Urgh... Don't remind me."

We passed through the door.

My jaw dropped.

My mom fumed.

The good news is... my dad stayed true to his word.

_He_didn't screw Dev.

No one ever said anything about Dev screwing my dad.

Both of them stared at us, dumbfounded.

Dev had this look on his face that said, 'It's only a quickie' mixed with 'After today, I think I deserve this.' Given that he was almost killed by my mom - and on one occasion, virtually murdered - I was inclined to agree.

My dad... Well... he was my dad.

"Good news," he exclaimed, grinning at his wife broadly. "He's gay!"