The Portal Games: A Short Vacation 2

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#29 of The Portal Games

The vacation comes to a head with DRAMA! And a jetpack...and a fight...and various other things.

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The Portal Games

A Short Vacation 2

Sanmer

After getting his cock sucked for a good twenty minutes and giving the plant two loads of thick fox cum, Sanmer was able to bring his focus back to the matter at hand: the silicone pants that he was wearing. They were solid enough that movement was a trifle difficult, but now that he knew that they had circuitry through them, he had several ideas. He just needed an appropriate voltage to make it work.

"Alright, this should...just about work..."

The fox had 'borrowed' a repair lift that had been going unused across the street, drove it to one of the power lines, and lifted himself up. There were probably a good number of city employees that were going to be very confused, but he didn't really care that much. They could suck it, as far as the scientist was concerned. Besides, he'd leave it with a few upgrades to the engine and precision parts when he was done. With that in mind, wasn't he doing the dragon a favor? Surely, the master of the city wouldn't mind him doing something like this.

He used his scanner as a multi-tool, running a wire up to the box attached to the top of the pole. With the multi-tool, he was able to divert a small amount of power from it and bring it down through another wire towards his pants. The silicone rippled as the wire touched it, absorbing into the 'fabric' and getting embedded.

"Right, that works, that works..."

Now came the hard part. He had a lot that he wanted out of his pants. He wanted them to be better able to move, to have some kinky bits to them, to be useful in various situations...but where did he start?

Making them more flexible seemed to be the best choice. He started tapping the screen, putting in various commands. Sanmer had to try three different programming languages before he found one that the pants would accept, and the result surprised him.

"Everyone's using Python these days..."

Shaking his head, he adjusted the commands, and in short order, the pants were sliding up and around his frame, clinging to his fur, yes, but no longer resting so thick and tight to him. He thinned out the silicone layers, turning sand and clay into something more refined and less restrictive. It ran up his legs to his hips, and then up to his sides. It flowed over his chest like a lab coat, and then popped outward as soon as it had a grip over his shoulders, making it a little more secure than it was before.

At the same time, he molded some of the material into a crotch-harness, something that clung to his cock a bit like a cock-sock. It could expand outward, if needed, growing into a shape that would both show off his erection while not restraining it. A good feeling, that, and he could feel that it was shifting still. He paused, then added a different command, one that should -

"Mmmmph..."

Sanmer grinned as he felt the interior - far less grainy than the sand had been, something smooth and almost muddy, but without the grit that would have had, either, almost like a silicone lube - rolled up and down his cock. It sucked, stroked, milked at him, and soon, the fox was hard as he could be. He thrust against the air a few times before telling it to stop, but he still left a command string in the machine to allow him to start that up again at will. There would be times when he'd need that sort of sensual touch while they were out in the arena. No need to be bothered by blue balls, after all.

Once that was done, he finished the adjustments to the material. With the electrical stimulation, he managed to mold it into a lab coat of sorts, one that was bound to the speedo that he wore around his crotch. It couldn't just go flying off, and from what he could tell from the readouts coming back to the multi-tool, the lab coat had some serious resistances to heat and cold. That would do wonders if they were dropped into another hostile environment. Which they probably would be, considering how this had gone so far. He shook his head.

"Alright, that's done...Now...let's look at color..."

Sergino

The demon proved to be a worthwhile companion, though he wasn't sure what to think of the wolf's teasing nature. There was a sense of pleasure to him, something that just rolled off his body. The ice dragon put it down to the nature of the beast, considering that he had come from Lykus, and pushed on.

"I'm assuming that you'll want some pleasure at the end of this," Azorious said, smiling.

"I'm considering it."

"I hope that you're interested in getting your ass taken."

"I am not opposed, if you're of sufficient heft."

"You know I am."

The wolf licked his lips, and the ice dragon felt warm fingers rubbing his rump. He twitched Hellaxe back slightly, tapping the wolf's fingers with the butt end, and Azorious chuckled, pulling his hand back. There was no sudden tease back, no pushing. All for the better, in Sergino's mind.

In truth, he didn't mind the idea of getting fucked, and he planned on enjoying himself, but not before they found what they were looking for. He did not know how much time they would have when it came to running away, and he wasn't about to risk losing this chance to even the playing field further.

Too many times, the game had been played too nice. It was treated too much like a game, like a child's competition of let's pretend, where it was more important to participate than to win. It was treated as given that as many people would reach the end as possible, but what was the point of that when there were so few that would decide the winner?

He did not understand why anyone would want that. If there were so few taken out of the game, so few to choose between a wide list of candidates, then it meant that their competition meant nothing. Their skills in getting through the game could be completely ignored in favor of friendship as the two or three that were part of the jury decided that they wanted their friend to have the win rather than the person that had played the game best. He could not let it be such a hollow victory as that. Even if he lost, he would see to it that the winner actually earned their space.

The axe pulled him to the side, and he looked at the building to his right. It was another brothel, one that loomed over the rest of its competition by two full stories. Two massive wings swept out to either side, and a dragon head, looking as lascivious as the workers on the street did with gem-like eyes, glanced down at those that passed beneath it with the promise of a good time.

Sergino looked at the axe, and then up at the head.

"In there?" he asked.

The axe bobbed in affirmation.

"Good...good."

"Not so good if you don't want to be chased out of here." Azorious smiled. "Are you trying to get out of being a good time?"

"No. But I need that."

"Then let me make you an offer. I'll get it...and you let me use both holes."

"..."

"A deal for a demon, hmm?"

"...And for your silence?"

"Hmmm..." Azorious chuckled, tapping his chin. "A promise."

"...And what kind of promise do you want from me?"

"Send Lykus through the next round with an ice collar around his neck. Just to tease him and remind him of what he is. Sometimes, he forgets what a little bitch he is deep down inside..."

"Heh...I agree."

Azorious nodded, the red wolf shimmering into crimson smoke. It flowed through the windows of the brothel, disappearing inside to the sound of moans and groans. Sergino waited outside, chasing off potential customers with glares and narrowed eyes. He hoped against hope that the demon wolf would follow through on his deal.

He will.

Hellaxe didn't speak in words, but it offered the sort of comfort that a thing of infernal energy could. He squeezed around its shaft, and it growled in grinding metal and twisting wood. Somehow, it sounded happy.

Isabella

Tarin had disappeared shortly after their philosophy ended, and the pangolin was left alone once more. She didn't mind; she wasn't actually alone, after all.

The city was awash with spirits, richer in them than anywhere else besides where she came from. Even compared to that, she had never seen so many that wandered from place to place, that washed against each other and played over the boundaries of their territory, that colored themselves with the intense shades that they projected and created collages of utter wonder and insanity that it made it feel like the world itself was breaking down, that reality didn't really matter while fun and fancy did.

As the pangolin walked the coastal streets, it felt like the water spirits flowed toward her like fishes in a pond, nibbling at her toes, while the earth spirits rose up and tickled at the base of her tail and the back of her legs. The many winds that blew from offshore were like birds that swept through the air, flocks of them running under her arms like strands of silk cloth, and the spirits of fire, from sun and heat in the concrete and so much more, rippled and hazed around her like dancing partners that could only last for a second or so each, but there were so many that the dance was never entirely interrupted.

And then there were the spirits of the city itself, from the spirit of every glass window infused with the intent and personality of the one that looked through it every day to the ones that were so lonely from having been abandoned for months, from the spirit of each road and the stores upon it to the children that inhabited the stores themselves and grew under the gentle guidance of their parents that connected them, and so many more. There were spirits all around her, hyper-specialized, and both old and young by turns.

It was overwhelming and soothing all at once, and Isabella danced among them, losing herself in their curiosity and interest and fascination with her. They were so used to those that were just unconsciously among them that they had forgotten what it was like to spend time with one that not only saw them, but spoke to them, channeled them, loved them in return.

She didn't have time to know them all, but she let herself be carried from one to another, giggling and crying and losing herself in the emotional sea of spirits as she went. This...this was what could be, and it inspired her.

Jaden and Sarah

After a few minutes of getting past the awkwardness of being an exhibitionist by force rather than by choice, the orca managed to get a little more comfortable being naked. It helped that he was also able to fetch a few clothes for himself and Sarah, though bad luck meant that they were getting it from the fringe of the Red Light District. They were dressed in a pair of speedos and little more, and Jaden was noticeably a little embarrassed that he was showing, ahem, less than the T-Rex was. She had quite a bulge down there, and the latex nature of the speedos meant that everything was on display in a way that was somehow both less and more erotic than it had been just hanging out.

As the orca fumbled about, trying to get used to the way that his own 'bits' were thrust forward, Sarah stretched her arms over her head. She stood up and looked around. They still hadn't attracted that much attention, and the bigger woman shrugged.

"You know, I was meaning to ask. That knife?"

"...What about it?" Jaden asked.

"What was going on before?"

"I wanted to get rid of it. If I did, then the demon in Tarin might be less powerful."

"It matters that much?"

"It's part of the demon. Connected to him, a scout, a thing looking for others to infiltrate and make part of the demon's whole. I could resist it, but I don't know..." He sighed. "Ailsa wanted to keep it as a weapon, just as a back-up."

"A way of keeping alternate hosts around. A demonic corporation of sorts, hmm?"

"I don't know what that means."

"Heh...think of it like grabbing all kinds of things so that you can use their resources without them having much of a say."

"...Kind of?"

"Yeah, that's what I expected."

The T-Rex shook her head. Pity that the stingray had stopped him from getting rid of that. It would have made things better for the Daisies, but probably also better for Black Chaos. At least with the Daisies, their demon problems were limited to a weapon that was possessed, rather than a person. If they had a problem, they could just leave the axe behind. The other team didn't have that much of an option.

"Well...at least you don't have to deal with it, hmm?" Sarah asked.

"Not for now. But..."

"...You're scared of being here, aren't you?" she asked.

"A little. I was meant to come here as training, but I don't know if I'm learning anything. We're always on the move, and all I've been doing is containing the demon. Now that I don't have to do that - and they don't seem to want me to do that - I don't know what to do next."

The orca slumped forward on the seat of the bus stop, leaning forward with his head in his hands. Sarah patted him on the back.

"Look. You don't have to just do what you're told, you know."

"I do. I am little more than a student."

"...You're joking, right?"

"I saw what happened. Mchumba tried to push forward, and they got rid of her for challenging the leader. They could do the same to me, if I decide to push for changes. I'm waiting for them to vote me off for trying to get rid of the knife."

"So, you're just giving up?"

"...I don't know."

"You're basically like Isabella. You can talk to spirits, right?" Jaden nodded. "That means that you could be a huge benefit to your team. You can hear what they have to say. If you pushed for it, got them to work with you instead of just doing the little bits that Ailsa asks, then you could be doing amazing things. But that's down to you. If you want to do it, go for it. But if you want to just keep your head down, too afraid..."

Jaden looked up at her for a moment, then back down. He sighed, pushing himself to his feet.

"I think...I think I need to go for a walk. Talk to the spirits here, and see how it feels to be with them. Do you mind?"

"Go ahead, hon."

He nodded his thanks, heading out. She sat at the bus stop, one leg folded over the other as she watched him go.

It was a bit of a double-edged sword, encouraging someone on the other team. On the one hand, there was a risk that she had just handed Black Chaos a greater weapon. On the other hand, there was the chance that she had just stirred the pot with someone else that would have strong opinions on how things were done, and would finally push for it.

At the very least, she'd pushed someone that had potential to actually go for it rather than just hold himself in the background. And she'd done it without breaking the truce, either in spirit or in letter.

Ailsa

Parasites, it turned out, were quite powerful little buggers. The stingray hadn't realized that they could be as good or bad as they were in the hentai magazines that she'd wasted so many bonuses on, nor had she guessed that they would be good enough to keep her running at a greater efficiency and stamina than even her military training had allowed. It seemed almost too good to be true.

"And you're just doing this -"

"Because I'd like to see one of me win," the other Ailsa said, smiling as she nibbled on some sushi. "I can't cheat too much - Drac would come down on me for that - but I can at least offer you some gifts to make it a little easier if you get to the free-for-all round. And look, you're almost there. Just have to make it through this one and the next."

"...What do you mean, this one and the next?"

"Oh, dear, dear, did you think that this was just a vacation? This is a competition just like any other. There may not be a full vote at the end of this, but there's still going to be some consequences."

"...And you can't tell me, can you?"

"Not really." The other - bigger, curvier, other - Ailsa gestured up with one finger. "He's watching me. He knows that I'd be doing something like this."

"Damn."

"Heh, trust me, hon. I'd love to, but I can't."

"But you can make me better?"

"Oh, I can do a lot of that..."

"...Then let's do it."

The other Ailsa smiled, and her eyes glowed. Long, purple tendrils started emerging from her back, and her mouth opened to allow three separate tongues to start slithering past her lips. Her nipples swelled, and her cocks throbbed as they pushed up from beneath the table, with little slugs and worms pushing their way from the tips of her cocks.

"Mmmm, let's work on infesting you, then, dear..."

The competitor Ailsa looked around. The rest of the buffet didn't seem to care about the creepy-crawlies that were slowly emerging from the demonic stingray across from her, but then again, they seemed a lot more focused on each other. Boners, hard nipples, wet clothes were becoming the norm, and the food was forgotten for the partners that they could have. Ailsa blushed slightly, looking back at the other her.

"Lust aura?" she asked.

"Mmm, yes. Best not to have too many eyes on us, hmm?"

"...I guess."

"Now, get up here...spread your legs. We're going to be at this for a while."

Glyn and Tarin

"Heh, and here I thought you'd be busy with Isabella or something. The way that you've been glaring at her, I half-expected some kind of elimination attempt," Glyn teased as they made their way up the side of a building. "What changed? Put off by her cuteness?"

"Nothing of the sort," the deer said, shaking his head as he followed behind the timber wolf on another rope. "I...had what I needed from her."

"And now you're getting what you need from me, huh?"

"It seems to be advantageous to both of us to commit this crime."

"No wonder you went for the thief instead of the sorcerer."

The deer had turned up when the timber wolf and whatever Lykus was had managed to finish their third round of fun, rescuing him from the play that they were going through. The sixty-nine had morphed to a mutual footjob had morphed to a round of face-fucking from a much bigger wolf cock, and he hadn't been sure that he'd be able to get through that without a sore throat. The deer had then appeared as they were about to transition to anal, and he had taken the out with as much grace as he could.

Now, they were on the side of a building in the middle of the night, and were climbing up towards one of the labs that public information said were at the mid-level of the building.

"Are you sure that this will get us what we want?" Tarin asked.

"Oh, well, it should. I mean, it's a security company with a good R&D section; it's gotta have something that we can use going forward."

"It better."

"Afraid that we don't have enough tools?"

"I'm concerned after nearly losing to Sarah that I might not make it without some help, I will admit."

"Yeah...join the club."

The pair of them had commiserated on more than they had expected. With Glyn's background in thievery across the galaxy and Tarin's more mysterious work in his own universe, they were able to find a great deal of common ground when it came to gadgets, sneaking around, and committing different quasi-illegal acts for the greater good. Mostly their own greater good, but occasionally for other reasons, as well.

They reached the top of the rope, and Glyn poked his eyes over the windowsill. The dark room on the other side beckoned to him, but he still had the smarts of a thief. He held his hand down to the deer.

"Mirror."

Tarin passed one up, and Glyn angled it left and right. He found the security beam that was crossing the window, and nodded. Easy trick.

Two minutes later, the window was cut - no need to be too surreptitious if they were leaving the next day - and they were in the lab. They turned on the lights and started picking through the different goods that were available. Proper grapple guns with stronger wire immediately grabbed Glyn's attention, while Tarin spent a little more time picking through things with greater discretion.

Sergino

Two and a half ruts with Azorious later - he didn't count the demon wolf suspending him in chains of smoke and brimstone and leaving a load on his soles, for some reason that only the demon seemed to understand - Sergino was allowed back on his feet. He had what he'd come from, and now...now, he had time. Time to find what he wanted, time to get what he needed, time to start making plans.

He squelched as he came back down to earth, his sex and his ass filled to the brim with demon seed, thick and heavy and...well, not entirely dripping. It was as if it had gelled, becoming something more like a quasi-solid plug inside of him rather than something more liquid. He would deal with that later, he decided, when there was less of a pressing problem of time.

"Mmmm, always love leaving a little gift behind," Azorious said, smiling to himself. "Now, is there anything else I can do for you, hmmmm?"

"...There is. Can you feel the other members of Lykus's team?"

"Hmmmmmm, most of them."

"I want to find Ailsa."

"Easy enough...why?"

"Can you teleport me to her?"

"For a price."

"..."

"If you lose, you cast your vote for Lykus."

"Done."

Sergino said it almost before he was entirely aware he had, but he said it without regrets nonetheless. If nothing else, it meant that he got what he wanted, and if he was eliminated, then there was little point in holding his vote in reserve. There were those that he felt it was acceptable to vote for, and those whose victory was unacceptable. Lykus fell into the former category, if not as highly as some of the others that he knew.

Azorious smiled.

"You get what you ask for..."

Ailsa

The stingray knew that there would be something intense when she laid on the table to get fucked. She hadn't expected it to be quite this intense.

"Holy...fuck...fuck...FUCK!"

Ailsa screamed as she got double-dicked, one in her pussy and one in her ass, both of them accompanied by a tentacle as thick as the cock plundering her. She was forced to stretch further than any of the toys that she'd snuck into the barracks had managed before, and her eyes rolled back in their sockets as she took them again and again, hard and fast, faster than she ever would have dared without someone to help pull her back together afterward.

And to top it all off, she could feel things sliding into her with each thrust. They were small, at first, but there were already a dozen or so wiggling things running from her entrances up to her inner parts. She could feel - hell, even see - some of them in her guts, making her stomach bulge in places before going back down, while she could feel others moving up like a more pleasurable colonoscopy. They were going in deep, and despite the fact that she should have fainted by now, she hadn't.

"There, there...you can feel it, can't you? Feel yourself getting stronger..."

She didn't know about stronger, but she knew that she would have passed out from a dicking like this two weeks ago. As it was, she just wanted more, and maybe that was the lust aura of the stingray looming over her holding her ankles like handlebars, or maybe there was something about the whole parasites empowering people thing. She didn't know, and at the moment, she really didn't care all that much.

She rolled her head back as she felt tendrils and cocks bottoming out again, the latter spasming as they let loose more living things inside of her. Despite sweating from head to toe, she felt like she could run a marathon, even though she felt drained as if she already had.

Weird.

So weird.

As she groaned, a tentacle came around and forced itself down her throat, plugging her mouth and fucking her with the same speed as everything else. She couldn't stop it, didn't want to stop it...

Yet...

She smelled something. Something hot, wet, female and yet different, not quite...right...

Sergino

The ice dragon appeared behind a booth seat, and he was immediately hit with the rutting feeling of heat in the air. He bit off a gasp even as his pussy clenched, the plug from the demon feeling far too good for a moment.

If he hadn't been fucked so hard twice in a row, he was pretty sure that he would have fallen to his knees and fingered himself to oblivion. As it was, he was able to control himself enough to stay quiet. He was in a buffet room, and there was a familiar smell. Sweat-smell of a stingray. He had caught it while they were in the desert, and it was right behind him.

Looking down at Hellaxe, he saw it twitching. The dragon brought it to his lips.

"Take the knife, but do not eat it..."

He held it down, and the head twisted around like a serpent. He waited, holding his breath, ready to leap and run if he needed to...

And the axe returned. He had the knife.

Leaping over the table, he ran for the door. Losing himself in the cluster of fucking customers, he paused only to make sure that he wasn't being pursued. He caught the eye of the stingray fucking his opposing captain -

And she smiled at him. Whatever the reason, she smiled, and he shivered as he ran.

Glyn and Tarin

Glyn was just comparing the wire of one grappling hook to another when Tarin stumbled, thumping his fist against one of the workbenches.

"Nnngh..."

"What? What's the matter?" Glyn asked.

"...I have to go," the deer said.

"Now? But -"

"Something happened. I have to go."

The timber wolf opened his mouth to protest, but there was something to the way that Tarin looked at him. The deer's demon eye was glowing brighter than before, almost fiery, and there was something to his stance that suggested that it was better not to argue at the moment. Glyn nodded.

"Yeah...okay, fine."

"I apologize. This is important."

"I'm sure. Go on."

The deer nodded, adjusting his new body armor and equipment belt as he made his way to the window. He hopped out the hole, leaving the timber wolf to continue looting the place. Glyn shrugged, checking out the other gear. Grapple guns were great...but what about that jetpack over there?

Lykus

Once Glyn left, it was a bit boring in the park. Lykus had planned on getting laid over and over again, but it felt a bit boring to just drag some random people in. He had interest in some of the other competitors, and he knew that they were regularly getting laid themselves - or at least, so it felt - but he didn't like the idea of grabbing another random stranger. Particularly here.

Particularly when a certain dragon might be on the menu.

The striped wolf smiled at the thought, stepping away from the fountain and letting his cock shrink back down after holding it at a bigger state for so long. He knew that there had to be an audience out there somewhere, and if the big dragon was still watching them, then he'd be seeing this. Lykus went up on his tiptoes, extending his legs in exaggerated steps that really showed off his toes and soles as he did, and called out.

"Oh, look at me. Barefoot and desperate. All alone in such a sexy city. Oh, what a shame it would be if a certain dragon found me and took advantage."

He waited, half-expecting to be seized immediately, but nothing happened. His smile faded slightly, but only for as long as it took for him to take a seat on a park bench, legs up in the air as the moon shone down on him and his bare ass. He parted his cheeks, holding his legs up and over his head, toes touching the back of the bench.

"Oh, dear. I seem to have fallen over. Wouldn't it be just terrible to get my legs tied up while I get myself abused? Wouldn't it be terrible if a certain dragon decided to take advantage?"

Still nothing. He harrumphed, sitting up and crossing his arms.

"What does a wolf have to do to get a little attention around here?"

"Maybe stop playing coy."

"GAH!"

Lykus leaped off the bench, going a full ten feet in the air before coming back down. He whipped his head around to see the black-scaled, white-eyed dragon smiling down at him, and held a hand to his heart.

"Drac, what are you doing? You're going to eliminate me with a heart attack or something."

"You were the one that called."

"Twice! What'd you do, leave the phone off the hook?"

"Nah, just wasn't that interested in coy play," the dragon said, walking around the bench and sitting down. "Besides, you need to do more than that to keep my interest. Some of the others are taking it ridiculously far this time around."

"Oh? Like? Gossip, gossip, please," Lykus said as he sat down too.

"Hmmmmm. No. It's their stuff to do as they will. Buuuuuut if you really want something, I'll let you suck my dick."

"Hey. Sucking dick is an art. It's a favor. It's -"

"Your biggest fetish."

"Not gonna lie, yes, but still, respect the oral sluts. We are masters of our craft."

"Prove it."

And Lykus proceeded to do that all night long.

Everyone

The night passed quickly for some, slowly for others. It depended on what they were trying to do with the last of their vacation, and how they wanted to use it.

For some, like Ailsa, Isabella, Sanmer, and Lykus, it was a soft, happy night. Oh, sure, some of them were fucking away, and some were getting 'upgrades' installed, but that didn't mean that they were working that hard. For others, like Sarah and Jaden, it was a night of contemplation and consideration, of rest and taking time to recover from what they'd gone through, though with a surprise interlude - or perhaps, interlewd - for the T-Rex with an admirer of her form.

But for Tarin, Kotone, Sergino, and Glyn? Things were a bit...different.

Glyn ended up tripping the alert in the building after spending too much time there and ended up using the jetpack to flee. He quickly found out that there was an aerial police force in the city, and spent the majority of the night fleeing them, staying one step ahead, getting caught, molested, released, only to be chased again and repeat the cycle.

Tarin, Kotone, and Sergino, on the other hand, were in a different bind. Sergino managed to find Kotone and explain what he had done, only for them to be hunted down by Tarin. Thus began a cat and mouse game between the three of them as the demon-possessed deer tried again and again to take back the knife. There were lulls, lulls where the deer took control and calmed down for a time, but with the threat of Hellaxe looming over the knife and the knife's constant call to the demon within the deer, it was hell for all three.

For those four, no rest was had, and eventually, morning came, and as it did, so did the city-wide 'ping' of alert. The beacon had opened in the city-center, right at the great spire that stood over the entire city, and it was up to the group to make their way back. Draconicon disappeared from the park bench where Lykus had been sucking him all night long, and the befuddled wolf hurried along.

So did everyone else.

Draconicon

After the time ran out, Draconicon had teleported himself to the center of the city. Sarah was right on the steps of the tower, and he shook his head at the T-Rex as she walked up the steps to him.

"Guessed that I'd open it in the middle of the city?" he asked.

"I imagined it was a possibility. That, and the fact that it's in the middle means that there's a better chance of getting to the portal wherever you did open it from here."

"Smart-ass."

"I'm good at anticipating others. You need to be, in court."

"Well, point to Daisies," he said, nodding for her to take her place on the other side of the portal.

She walked through, and he stood there with his hands folded behind his back, shaking his head. He had a feeling that they weren't going to like this, but it was going to be necessary. He looked at the skies, and waited.

Sanmer was next, followed by Glyn. The fox hopped off the flying wolf, sending the canine flying further down the road from the sudden lack of balance, and the timber wolf nearly slammed into a nearby building. The sounds of roaring sirens chased the fox down the street as he ran up the steps, waving as he held his coat closed with one hand. His potted plant in a hover-pot followed behind, leaning forward as if it was running as fast as its master was.

"Sorry, long story, going through now!"

Sanmer leaped through the portal, and Draconicon chuckled, shaking his head.

"Point to Chaos."

The police rounded the corner, surrounding the debris of a smashed table and several other broken pieces of furniture near the spot Glyn had been forced to 'land.' The timber wolf was impossible to see in that mess as leather and latex dressed officers surrounded the pile. They muttered to themselves as they prepped a restraint system -

POOF!

A rocket-propelled grappling hook shot out from beneath the pile of debris, slamming into the awning over the tower door. Glyn followed, yanked along as the wolf flipped the police officers the bird. He landed with a thud beside the dragon, looking tired, red-eyed, unkempt, and grumpy as a wolf was capable of looking.

"I...hate...cops," he muttered.

"In you go." Ping went the portal, and the dragon smiled.

It was another twenty minutes before the next ones showed up. Tarin, Kotone, and Sergino showed up all at once, the trio dusted up with what looked like ash, powdered drywall, and more. They were not happy, particularly not Sergino or Tarin, as they were held apart by the mare between them from actually getting homicidal with one another. Draconicon shook his head at the pair of them.

"The next one to throw a blow is going to be eliminated from the competition, no questions asked. All fighting is to be suspended until you get to the next arena," he said.

The pair of grumbling competitors slowly pulled away from each other, huffing and hissing. Kotone shook her head, gently pulling Sergino towards the portal.

Before they could reach it, however, four massive swells of energy made the air shimmer. Magic of various sorts had been summoned and put to work, and they all arrived at more or less the same time.

The first came with a rolling wave of concrete that had been turned to slimy things, creepy-crawling in a narrow line from the far end of the street to the front of the steps. They came to a sharp end at the feet of a naked stingray, her eyes glazed over but her face twisted up in a smile with a second tongue teasing her lips. She approached with a bit of a drunken sway, but she was clearly happy with herself.

The second came with a rolling wave of humidity. All eyes on the steps turned to the left, looking at the approaching wall of shimmering water-vapor. Not a wave of water, no, but water vapor, so thick that it supported Jaden in it as if he was swimming through air rather than through the moisture he'd summoned. Around him danced the spirits of the sea and the water pulled from it, gathered together in a show of power.

The third came from the right, in a wave of green and floral scents. Everyone looked from Jaden to Isabella, as she was spun from flower to vine to rising tree from the concrete, bearing different colors among the scales on her back and sides, touched and tingling with the power of city and nature spirits alike.

Then, from above, came the fourth, as well as a howl of utter terror and exhiliration alike. Everyone looked up, seeing Lykus flying their way with flames from his feet and demon wings on his back, along with various visual effects that seemed to do something to speed him up, though nobody was quite sure what.

They came together and reality gelled for a moment, then split back to its constituent parts. They were called back to reality, and only Jaden seemed completely unshaken. Draconicon smiled, gesturing for them to walk through.

"Back to the game, everyone...and I believe the first thing we'll need to do is a vote. One of you treated this round the way you should, after all. Oh, and I hope you enjoyed your new powers at full strength. We're nerfing those to some extent. In you go. In you go..."