Chapter 2
 
 
 
​As they got on the pad for the Quarterfinals, Corey radioed to his team. “Alright, this next team is going to be a bugger. Wal-mart map, and their Elite is wearing Bludgeon armor. Stay back, careful about running in groups.” The pad began to whir. “I’ll handle the Elite.”
 
​“That’s right, kill him!” Alexi said. The team cheered just before they were teleported off, each to their own respawn point.
 
​The Wal-mart map was the strangest of them all. It was all on a single flat level, other than shelves that were stocked with virtual merchandise. The store itself was fairly small. Combining the single level with the low ceiling and the limited floor space, this was by far the smallest map in the game. With 10 people on the map, this would be a fast, bloody game.
 
​Corey held the Popper, the most generic and standard pistol that everyone wore, but was focused on his left arm PowerWrist. He could see the Elite on the other side of the map. For his built-in weapon, he had a massive spiked hammer built into his right arm. Not only that, but he could fire it up to 50 yards away. To add insult to injury, he kept a constant beam of lighting between his arm and launched hammer. Finally, to top it off, he could even swing the launched hammer.
 
​The countdown finished, and Corey was off. Full out airborne, he cleared the map in mere seconds. Having a Strike charged before landing in front of the Bludgeon, he punched the Elite in the chest.
 
​Twin jets of cubes, metal and blood exploded from the tips of the hammers. They shot against the far wall. The Bludgeon grunted and fell down.
 
​“Corey, look out!” Thiye, the team’s female tech assistant, said.
 
​Before Corey could see it coming, his life bar was deducted 30% and he was flying toward a large iron shelving unit. He crashed into it, bending the main beam a bit. He charged another strike.
 
​“Corey, duck left and you’ll find a PowerFist.” Thiye said. “Maybe you can double slam him. Kal, look out!”
 
​Corey clipped the more primitive version of his built in PowerWrist to his right arm. He charged a Strike up on Fist as well. Shooting forwards, Corey crashed down on the Elite and sent 4 powerful hammers into it’s helmet. He fell to one knee and roared.
 
​Corey’s neck jerked sideways and his neck popped several times. He was flung off the broad shoulders of the Bludgeon and into a fabric rack. What in god’s name was that? He felt the wound. A large chunk of airborne debris, more than likely. Thankfully the armor had taken the entire blow.
 
​“You ‘kay there?” Thiye said. “Zenith dropped a 3-pack of grenades and it blew crap up.”
 
​“I’m pretty good, yeah.” Corey stood up. “Holy shi–” He was crushed back down with a forceful blow from the Bludgeon. His life bar dropped to 10%. He charged two more Strikes as he tried dislodging himself from the rubble. The large hammer slowly rose to take it’s final blow.
 
​He couldn’t do anything but watch the hammer fall. It came down at blurring speeds, and finally shot him into the familiar blue and white vortex. He ran out of the window and respawned.
 
​“Thiye, score count.”
 
​“Tied 2 to 2.” She said. “Zenith got both kills with that pack of grenades. He also died a bit later.”
 
​“Damn.” Corey said. “I really need a good weapon. Thiye, any Brawlings missile launchers in the area?”
 
​“None yet. I’ll keep you informed.” Thiye paused. “There is a sniper not that far from you. Do you see the Durecell display to your right?”
 
​Corey looked and saw the battery display. “Yeah.”
 
​“Just on the opposite side of that. Hurry though.”
 
​“Got a kill!” Alexi said. “That punk had it coming!”
 
​“Good work.” Thiye said. “Alexi, get ready to activate your White Mamba and clothesline a group of 3. Get ready…to your left, and now!”
 
​Corey saw a flash of white to his right. He picked the sniper up and used the scope to see how it turned out.
 
​“Shit!” Alexi screamed. “Help! Oh my God!”
 
​Corey took a shot and the survivor of her attack exploded into cubes.
 
​“Why’d you flip out so much?” Zen asked.
 
​“He took away my White Mamba, and I had lost hold of my pistol. He had a Sabertooth blade, and I think he wanted to hurt me.” She took a deep breath. “Thanks Corey.”
 
​“No problem.” He said as he targeted the Elite from across the map. Bang! The bullet stayed true and hit Bludgeon right through the helmet. A spray of blood painted the back wall. He collapsed.
 
​“Elite down, I think he’s dying.” Corey said. “Thiye, confirm that.”​
 
​“Yes, he just died..” Thiye said. “Corey, look out, he’s respawning right beside you!”
 
​Corey bit through 3 racks of groceries. His life bar screamed. He looked around and saw he had dropped the sniper. It sat at the feet of the Bludgeon, who had so conveniently respawned beside him. The Bludgeon aimed his arm at Corey and the hammer launched off.
 
​“Oh crap!” Corey said, scrambling out of the way. The hammer punched through the current rack, electric current pulsating behind it. Corey checked his weapons inventory and came up only with a Popper.
 
​“Thiye!” He said, ducking as the Bludgeon began to move the hammer around. “I need a weapon! Really, really, really bad.”
 
​“Follow my instructions closely, and you’ll make this. There’s a Brawlings at the end of the tunnel.” Thiye took a deep breath. “Get ready to fly over exactly 3 racks going toward the back of the store. Land in the 3rd rack and duck. If you can, land on the enemy that should be there.” She paused. “Go!”
 
​Corey did exactly as her instructions said. He even landed on the enemy, smashing him to the ground and planted several bullets into his head while he waited for more instructions.
 
​“Jump out of the isle and run forwards. When I give you the cue, drop on your face.”
 
​Corey leapt out and ran. Boosting forward with the extra speed of his Qwaram armor, he flew past the isles in an incredible blur.
 
​“Hurry!” Thiye said. “Someone else has seen the Brawlings!”
 
​Corey pushed on harder. “Any cue for dropping?”
 
​“Now!”
 
​He fell down and a sniper bullet whizzed over his head.
 
​“Run!”
 
​He got back up and ran as hard as he could.
 
​“Left, sharp!” Thiye’s voice was growing more pressured. “Oh God, hurry!”
 
​Corey pushed harder. He activated his Boosters in perfectly synchronized spurts that were timed with his feet. He made distance like the bullets that began to zing around him–bullets?
 
​“Doowwnn!” Thiye cried. Corey didn’t have enough time to process. The sniper bullet tore through his shoulders, longways. Corey yelled in pain as blood exploded against a Sale sigh. His life bar began to slowly decrease.
 
​“Shit!” Thiye said. “Oh god, I’m so sorry!”
 
​Ripper bullets bit into his chest plate. Bloody and dying, Corey felt his Grenade inventory. He had one Hurl grenade, the more typical grenade. He pulled the pin and changed directions.
 
​“Someone else get the Brawlings.” Corey said. “I’m dead.”
 
​He full powered his boosters and shot across the map. The Elite was hunting down Alexi.
 
​“Backup, please!” Alexi cried out. The hammer lifted up. She screamed and raised an arm above her head.
 
​Corey slammed into the Bludgeon, knocking him over. At the same time, the grenade exploded. Corey’s world snapped into the vortex. He hoped the Bludgeon had been killed too. While his suicide dropped their score one, the kill of the Elite brought it back up one. But he had killed the Elite and gotten a full life bar without giving the other team a point.
 
​He leapt out of the window that lead back into the map and through a respawn point. “Thiye, nearest weapon please.”
 
​“Duck!”
 
​He dropped prostrate and heard a missile pass over.
 
​“Stay down.”
 
​No more missiles, but he knew he was a target and stayed down.
 
​“Score count, Thiye?”
 
​“Your teammates have been hard at work. The score is 13 to 16, and Shockwave is down.”
 
​“Crap.” He said. “I need to be getting more kills.”
 
​“You’re doing fine.” Alexi said. “Keep the Elite out of our hair and we’ll pull a win out of this.”
 
​“You sure?”
 
​“No, but I think so.”
 
​“I’ll do my best.”
 
​“Corey,” Thiye said. “a weapon just appeared behind you. You won’t believe this.”
 
​Corey turned. Oh my god.
 
​It was a FireRunner. The most powerful weapon in the game.
 
​He sprinted backwards and grabbed it. He mounted it on his right arm and turned. “Anyone within radius?”
 
​“Yeah, shoot a beam at a 20º angle straight forward. You should nail the Brawlings wielder.”
 
​Corey aimed as he was instructed and sent a burst of liquid flame. Both sides of the isle were engulfed in a momentary explosion. He saw a pillar of fire leap from the ground where the beam struck, and then he heard screaming.
 
​“You got him.” Thiye said. “Good shot. Now, run out of the isle and take a shot to your right. The Elite will be walking away from you, hit him in the back.”
 
​Corey walked out from the burning isle and shot another beam. It flew with incredible speed and hit the Elite between the shoulder blades. He burst into flame.
 
​“Corey, left and duck!”
 
​Corey dropped down and saw an electrified White Mamba pass over his head. Changing weapons back to the Popper, he stood and sent 5 bullets into his attacker’s face. It exploded into cubes, and Corey re-equipped the FireRunner.
 
​“Elite down.” Thiye said. “Keep your eyes out for where he’ll respawn.”
 
​The map shook. Corey paused. “Thiye, what was that?”
 
​“I felt that too.” Alexi said. “Maps like this don’t shake.”
 
​“I don’t know…there wasn’t an explosion or anything. Oh god, incoming!”
 
​Corey felt a strange pulling sensation. Recognizing it, he knelt down into a smaller figure and bent his head down. What merited a mid-game log out?
 
​This world flashed. As his vision began to blur, he saw all the opposing teammates shudder and grow stiff. The Elite respawned, only to stand straight, arms forward, shaking mildly.
 
​“Dear god, Thiye, what is this?” Corey said. Suddenly he was back in his chair, waking along side his other 4 teammates.
 
​“Christ!” Zen said. “That hurt…”
 
​Corey rubbed his neck. Mid game log outs, or any log out that bypassed their locker room, always hurt.
 
​“Your map was just hacked.” Thiye said, taking off her microphone head piece. “Get security, now!”
 
​“Hacked?” Mic said. “Who would hack us?”
 
​“Someone who really wanted to hurt you.” Gaze said, entering the room. His pistol was out. “You’re under heavy security now. No one enters, no one leaves.”
 
​“Isn’t that horribly illegal?” Alexi said.
 
​“Not only illegal, it can be considered an attempt at murder.” Gaze closed the blinds to the windows in the small room. “Tapping into the script of your consciousness is funny business. Deleting or modifying just the wrong code will kill or disable the user.”
 
​“Aren’t there firewalls or anti-hack programs for this?” Zen said.
 
​“Yeah, pretty darn good ones too.” Gaze said, finishing his inspection of the room. “Everyone, get below window height.”
 
​Everyone crouched on the floor. Corey’s tablet rang. Gaze looked over at Corey as he pulled out the tablet.
 
​“Wait.” Gaze said. “Who is it?”
 
​“Just my parents.” Corey said. He was about to answer the call when Gaze plugged a device into the bottom.
 
​“That’ll record the call. Just in case, y’know.” Gaze leaned back.
 
​“Hello?” Corey said.
 
​“Corey!” His dad said. “Thank goodness you’re fine.”
 
​“Watching my game, huh?”
 
​“All of the games have been stopped. A ‘technical difficulties’ error message has been posted, but all the news channels suspect hacking. Is that true?”
 
​Gaze shook his head and made a hand signal.
 
​“Sorry Dad, I can’t say right now. Look, I need to go.”
 
​“Alright…glad to see you’re fine.” Dad breathed out a sigh. “Goodbye.”
 
​Corey clicked the End Call button. Alexi slid beside him and leaned her head on his shoulder.
 
​“What do you think is going to happen?”
 
​“They’ll catch this idiot, and throw him into prison.” Corey said. “Hopefully he didn’t hurt the other team. They started acting funny as we began to log out.”
 
​“How so?” Gaze said. He had his radio out.
 
​“They looked sorta stiff, and the Elite started to shake.”
 
​Gaze swore. He clicked on his radio. “Home base, this is Upare One coding in Quicktime.”
 
​“Code in confirmed.”
 
​“I’ve just been told that the team Gamma may have been the target and been victimized in this assault. Code in with their security and see if they’re ok.”
 
​“Will do.”
 
​Gaze clicked the radio off. “Alright team, I’m going to move us to another room in the building, hopefully one that’s more secure.”
 
​“Sounds good.” Corey said, putting his jacket back on. “Where to?”
 
​“Server room.” Gaze cocked his pistol. He was sweating.
 
​“Why there?” Alexi said, picking up her bag.
 
​“Most secure room in the building. It has to be, just for these situations.”
 
​Corey nodded. “Lead the way.”
 
​“Keep crouched. Heat seeking snipers could peek through a covered window and see us.”
 
​Gaze exited the room and crept down the hall. Everyone followed behind him. Corey kept Alexi beside and partially under him and his jacket. They walked down two flights of stairs and towards the server room.
 
​“Where are all the guards?” Corey asked. Gaze looked around.
 
​“Probably securing the parameters.” He said. He got to the server room door and opened it using a pass key and a long password. “Go on in.”
 
​The team crept in. It was fairly dark inside and quick warm from all the servers. Ilev sat behind a bank of monitors on the far wall. Sweat dripped from his face.
 
​“Ilev,” Corey said. “what’s the status? How are things looking?”
 
​Corey walked around the monitors. He looked at the programs running. Not the programs that should be running during a hack attack. Screens showing the security cameras from other VRT buildings for other teams, script running along side the Bludgeon Elite armor figure, arms stretched out in front of him…
 
​Oh god. Corey took a step back in disbelief. “You!” He yelled. “You hacked the games! Damn you!”
 
​A gun clicked to his right. “Everyone down on the ground, hands where I can see them!” Gaze roared. His face had had twisted. He held the gun out, pointing at Corey. “You too, get on the ground!”
 
​Corey knelt down. “You’re in on this too?” His heart sank.
 
​“Cell phones, tablets, keys, wallets, I want everything in a pile by my feet!” Gaze roared again. Alexi was whimpering as the others began to empty their pockets. Gaze kicked her in the face. She held back a scream.
 
​Corey reached into his pocket. He found a wallet, tablet and mechanical pencil. He pulled them out and tossed them into the pile. Then he stuck his hand into his jacket pocket and felt the grip of a pistol.
 
​“Corey, hands where I can see them!”
 
​Corey raised his left hand while fumbling around in his right pocket. “Hold on, I have my Exe in here.”
 
​Mic was also fumbling in his pocket. Gaze whipped his pistol and knocked him on the ground. “Damn it, you idiots! Hands where I can see them!”
 
​With a fluid motion, Corey brought out the pistol and sent two bullets through the air. Blood splattered against the door as Gaze fell to the floor, hole ripped through his head. Corey turned and found Ilev behind the computer, trying to raise a pistol. Corey shot him in the neck, then head.
 
​Silence filled the room. Alexi started to cry. Corey put the gun back in his pocket and walked over to her. He sat down and raised her into his lap, then stroked her hair.
 
​“I’m so sorry.” He whispered into her ear. “None of this should have happened.”
 
​“Gaze…” She said. Tears flowed down her cheeks. “how could you…”
 
​“Good shot.” Zenith said. He sat against a bank of servers.
 
​“Yeah, you really saved us from a hard place.” Kal said. He was retrieving his items from the pile.
 
​“I’m sorry you all had to see that.” Corey said. Blood puddled around Gaze’s lifeless body. “We really should cover him up.”
 
​Just before Corey rose, he found blood on his hands. Seeing as he hadn’t been wounded, he checked Alexi. Her left nostril was bleeding profusely, and the left side of her face was bruised. Corey whipped off his jacket, took the pistol out and wrapped it around her head.
 
​“Call 911.” Corey said as he looked around the room for a blanket or something to cover Gaze with. “We need to tell them what just happened.” He didn’t care so much about Ilev, as his body was hidden behind a desk. He turned and found Thiye in the corner, crying softly.
 
​“Thiye, you ok?”
 
​She whimpered. “I’ve never seen a real dead person before.” She said. “It’s so different from the games when you kill someone.”
 
​Corey knelt down and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry it came to this. I’m more sorry you and Alexi had to see it. But it will get better soon, you’ll see.”
 
​She nodded and her crying slowly stopped. Corey stepped away and found a sheet of cardboard used for shipping servers in. He hauled it back and placed it over Gaze. By now the team had moved away from both dead bodies and were closer to Thiye.
 
​“Someone called 911 yet?”
 
​“Yeah.” Kal said. “They said they’d send a squad in as soon as they could.”
 
​“We should sit tight here.” Corey said, deadbolting the door. “We are safe here now, and we don’t want to look like we’re running from a crime scene.”
 
​Corey found a bag used for keeping large motherboards in and placed his pistol in it. They’d probably want to see if it was his pistol that shot Gaze and Ilev, and they’d want to check fingerprints and such. Since he was innocent of any crime, Corey was prepared to do just that.
 
​With a door shattering, frame splintering crash, the door burst open. 3 SWAT soldiers burst in, guns raised.
 
​“Everyone, hands in the air!” One yelled out. Every did as such.
 
​“Hey guys,” Corey said. “the fight is over, you’ve got bodies to work with.”
 
​The SWAT soldiers looked through their sights and found Gaze’s body.
 
​“Are there more than one?”
 
​“Yeah. There’s another behind the computer desk.” Corey said. Police began to flow in. One walked up to Corey.
 
​“If you could, please tell us everything that happened.” He held a voice recorder up. Corey recounted the events since being hacked in the VRT game up to the SWAT team bursting in. Other police began to process the bodies and set up markers and interviewing the other teammates.
 
​Alexi walked over to Corey and leaned against his chest. “What about the other games? Are we missing them?”
 
​Corey stroked her hair. “No. They shut all games down temporarily after the hack, and permanently after our fiasco.”
 
​She sighed. “So do we resume the games another day?”
 
​“Haven’t heard any word on that. I suspect so.”
 
 
 
§​§​§​§​§
 
 
 
 
 
​After mounds of interrogating, red tape and other police stuff, Corey and Alexi returned home. Instead of fearing the paparazzi, they were escorted and a secure guard was positioned around their apartment suite. Snipers, assault rifles…too many firearms. Even for Corey, who was used to ‘killing’ people.
 
​Alexi sat on the bed and hugged her knees to her chest. “What happens now?”
 
​Corey sighed and sat down beside her. “I’m not sure.”
 
​“I hope no one else was killed or hurt.”
 
​Corey wrapped an arm around her waist. “Same here.”
 
​A knock came from the door. Corey froze. He pulled his pistol out and progroached the door.
 
​“Who’s there?”
 
​“DPBD SWAT here. Someone from the media would like to interview you.”
 
​“Media?” Corey sighed. “Fine.” He opened the door. Two SWAT soldiers entered along with a rather startled young man with a voice recorder and notepad. The man walked up to Corey.
 
​“Hello, my name is Scott Rod. Could I have a few minutes of your time for a quick interview?”
 
​Corey looked back at Alexi. She still sat on the bed.
 
​“Sure, but only with me. Alexi isn’t doing so well.”
 
​Scott lit up. He flipped open his notepad and clicked on the voice recorder.
 
​“So um, Corey…walk us through the whole experience with being brutally kidnapped, held hostage and tortured?”
 
​“What?”
 
​“Y’know, the whole hostage thing. What was it like? And how did you manage to shoot your captor?”
 
​“You’ve got it all wrong. We weren’t exactly held hostage…at least not yet. He was working on it. He–”
 
​“Who’s ‘he’?”
 
​“I’d rather not say. I’ll say he’s a rogue body guard.”
 
​“Rogue…body…guard…” Scott scribbled franticly in this notepad.
 
​“After he had us held in the server room, he asked us to empty our pockets. I found a pistol I had stashed earlier, and shot him and his accomplice.”
 
​“You must be feeling pretty triumphant, hmm?” Scott said, holding the voice recorder up again.
 
​“No. No I don’t. I feel terrible that I had to take the life of a good friend in front my dearest love and my team.” Corey took a deep breath. “It was a bloody ordeal that shouldn’t have happened.”
 
​“But don’t you feel triumphant that you saved your team from possible death?”
 
​“I feel more like I took out the garbage.” Corey sighed. That was a bit cliche. “It’s what had to be done.”
 
​Scott smirked. “Well, thank you for your time. I’ll be off now.”
 
​As he was leaving, Corey called after him. “Wait, what news channel are you with?”
 
​“Fox 7 news.” Scott said. “You can catch your interview on TV in roughly 10 minutes.”
 
​The door closed and the room was silent again.
 
​“That is gonna be first of many.” Alexi said. “You sure you wanted to uncap that bag of worms?”
 
​“Can of worms, I believe is the term.” Corey said. “I think so. I mean, this is probably a pretty big ordeal.”
 
​“How popular do you think this piece of news will be?”
 
​Corey shrugged. “Remember when Osama Bin Laden was finally caught and killed? I bet something like that. It will be the main talk for the next week, then the world will remember for a while then sorta forget.”
 
​“Let’s hope the forgetting part comes soon.” She leaned against him and wrapped her arms around his chest. “I don’t want to be reminded of this every time I show my face in public for the rest of my life.”
 
​Corey looked into her eyes. While they were still incredibly blue and perfect, he knew what they had witnessed would scar them forever. She leaned her head against his chest and sighed.
 
​“I suppose a long night is out of the question?” He stroked her hair.
 
​“Not necessarily.” She said. She had her eyes closed. “Though you didn’t win the tournament to earn one.”
 
​“How about saving you and the team from Gaze?”
 
​“Now that,” She smiled. “however bloody, may well earn one.”
 
​She leaned up and kissed him. Their tongues weaved together in a complex dance. The kiss lasted for almost a full half minute. When they broke apart, Corey began to slowly rub the sides of her waist. Alexi slid her hand up and down over his chest.
 
​Corey leaned forward and nuzzled the bridge of her nose with his nose. She squinted and giggled.
 
​“Stop!” She said, laughing. “That tickles!”
 
​“It also lets me to be close to you.” Corey moved down and kissed her several times. He moved his arms up her waist and to the base of her breasts. He rubbed the bottom side of them and cupped the base. She smiled and giggled.
 
​“That also tickles.”
 
​“But it feels so good.” Corey said. Her breasts did feel wonderful. While they weren’t too large, they were round and soft. He slid his hands across them, up to her neck and began to unzip her skin-tight suit.
 
​A knock pounded from the door. Corey groaned.
 
​“Hold on, we’ll get back to this.” He kissed her briefly and left the bed. She zipped her suit back up.
 
​“Who is it?” Corey said before opening the door.
 
​“DPBD, another reporter from the media asking for an interview.”
 
​“No thanks. It’s late and I’d like to spend some time with my girl.”
 
​“Please, Mr. Corey?” Another voice said. “You gave Fox 7 an interview, why not me?”
 
​“He got here first, you didn’t. I don’t want too much publicity either.”
 
​“What’s your main feeling after murdering the security guard?”
 
​Corey paused.
 
​“Corey, don’t.” Alexi said.
 
​“I’m not answering. And I didn’t murder anyone.” Corey said, walking away from the door.
 
​“Turn on the news!” The voice said. “Channel 18! You might want me to interview you after that!”
 
​“Screw off.”
 
​“Your career may depend on it!”
 
​Corey paused. He turned to Alexi. She shrugged. “Make it quick.”
 
​He flipped on the paper-thin screen TV and switched to channel 18.
 
​“…while some of our sources are indicating that Corey Velnix,” His picture appeared on the screen. “may be soon under the investigation for murder and hacking the games.”​
 
​“What the hell!” Alexi said.
 
​“Having murdered Gaze Weatherbeat and Ilev Smith, Corey allegedly bypassed the security loggins that Ilev would have inputed before his death. He then hacked the games and targeted his opposing team, who was giving him issues, and seriously wounded their team leader.”
 
​“How the hell do they explain the fact I was in the games during the hack?” Corey said.
 
​“According to an interview taken from a news reporter working for Fox 7, we have gained access to the clip.” Corey’s image in his apartment that had been recorded just minutes ago appeared on screen.
 
​“I feel more like I took out the garbage.” The camera was shaky and seemed to be shoulder mounted from Scott’s point of view. Alexi was sitting in the background.
 
​“He filmed us?” Corey sneered. “Damn reporters…”
 
​“Can I interview you now?” The voice, assumedly the reporter, said through the door. “I might be able to shed some light on the situation.”
 
​Corey sighed and looked at Alexi. She nodded. “Sure, come on it.”
 
​The SWAT members entered with the new reporter. A small, scrawny guy who looked like he was in his early 20’s but had the nerve of a bull rider.
 
​“Guys,” Corey said to the SWAT soldiers. “check him for cameras. I don’t want another unprecedented appearance on TV as such.”
 
​The SWAT soldiers did a pat down and found a small device that registered as a video camera. Corey sighed.
 
​“Ok, make this quick. You’ve got 5 minutes.”
 
​“Alright, first off my name is Ron Gonzalez. Next, what was your feeling when you murdered Gaze Weatherbeat?”
 
​“I didn’t murder him. He attacked us when he moved us to the server room for better protection.”
 
​“Which conveniently didn’t have any security cameras installed?”
 
​Corey groaned. “I think he did it to get us in a secure corner to kill us. Whatever the reason, I shot him using a pistol I had stashed earlier in my pocket.”
 
​“Also very convenient.”
 
​“I do what I do, ok? I protect the members of my team.” Corey sighed. “Any more questions?”
 
​“Yes, one last one.” He flipped through his tablet, a similar one to Corey’s. “If you didn’t hack the games, in which you had motive and certainly evidence to show you did hack them, why did Gaze want to hack them and kill you and your team?”
 
​“Motive?” Corey paused. “I’m not sure. I guess we’ll find out at some point, won’t we?”
 
​“Ok, one last question–”
 
​“You’re done.” Corey said. He motioned to the soldiers, who escorted him out of the room.
 
​“Corey!” Ron said over his shoulder as he left. “Channel 18 is me, watch in about 15 minutes and see this interview.”
 
​“Good bye.”
 
​The door finally closed. Corey peeked out and told the guards no more visitors until he said so. He then closed the door and deadbolted it shut.
 
​When Corey turned back around, Alexi was unzipping her suit. Her gray athletic bra had little pointy nipples poking through the tight fabric. Corey walked over and kissed her while rubbing her waist again.
 
​He slid his hand under the bra and slowly rubbed the base of her breasts. Between long kisses she giggled.
 
​“That tickles too.”
 
​“Everywhere tickles, doesn’t it…” Corey met her lips again.
 
​“Pretty much.” She licked out and met his tongue.
 
​“Let’s see where else you’re ticklish.” Corey broke apart the kisses and brushed a bang out of her face. He slowly lifted the bra off her small frame. She lifted her arms and let the bra glide past them.
 
​Her breasts were truly a sight to beheld. Perfectly round, wonderfully soft and currently exposed small nipples. B sized bra cup, they weren’t massive but were just about as big as they could be and not interfere with ‘unisex’ armors in the games.
 
​Corey cupped her left breast and began to rub the nipple with his thumb. Alexi scrunched her shoulders together and giggled.
 
​“God! That tickles worse!”
 
​“I’m only beginning.” Corey said, smiling. He kissed her again and ran his hands down her breasts, over he stomach and to her underwear shorts. Alexi placed her hands on his.
 
​“Already?” She whispered. “I want this night to last forever, let’s not rush it.”
 
​Corey folded his hands around hers. He nuzzled her face again. “Sounds great. Where do we go from here?”
 
​“Probably lying down would be a good idea.” She grinned. Her young, girlish face radiated hope, life and love. Corey couldn’t stop himself from returning the smile. Her bruises from being kicked in the face were dark but fairly well hidden by makeup.
 
​“Probably.”
 
​They kissed several more times while slowly spinning. Corey then laid backwards and fell onto the bed, Alexi in tow. She giggled as she fell onto him. They kept kissing for several more minutes.
 
​After the session of kisses, Corey just stared into her eyes. Such detail in those round globes. He wanted every line, every color, every hue to be forever imprinted in his mind. They touched noses and Alexi giggled.
 
​She wrapped her arms around him and drug him into a massive hug. Her breasts pressed against his chest. He could feel her heartbeat. She probably could feel his too.
 
​“I love you so much Corey.”
 
​“I love you too, Alexi. More than anything in the world.”
 
​She drew back from the hug and gave him another massive kiss. Deep, powerful and incredible. Corey glanced in his peripheral vision and noted the time. It had already been a half hour since the last reporter.
 
​Corey drew back from the kiss. “Lights, off. Lamps, on.”
 
​The voice commands he rarely used saved him the time of actually turning off the lights and turning on the lamps. Suddenly the room changed from an average, albeit upscale apartment suite to a luxurious, sexy atmosphere. Dim, warm incandescent bulbs replaced the standard extrescent bulbs. However rare incandescent bulbs were to find, times like this made them more than worth it.
 
​Next thing Corey realized, Alexi was taking off his jacket and unzipping his suit. Soon the only fabric that covered the most intimate, vital place on both of their bodies was a thin sheet of stretchy underwear shorts. Corey rubbed her breasts, especially focusing on the nipples. Instead of girlish giggles and squirms about being ticklish, Alexi closed her eyes and quietly moaned every so often.
 
​Corey left his left hand on her breasts and slowly glided his right down to her underwear. Rubbing the outside of them, he found them very warm and a bit moist. He prodded her pussy through the underwear, waiting for a response. Instead of a rebuke telling him to wait, she arched her back slightly and made a satisfied noise.
 
​Corey got his fingers into the underwear and slowly pulled it down her legs. Within a few seconds, her pussy was revealed. Shaved to a perfect smooth gloss, it was absolutely fabulous. It was wet, ready for action. He caressed the most intimate place on her body with one hand while slowly pulling the shorts down with the other.
 
​Once the shorts were off, Corey looked her over. Lying flat on the bed, legs slightly apart and arms at her sides, she looked angelic. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was slightly open. Locks of dark brown hair laid across her forehead and face. He pushed them away, revealing her face without any mask.
 
​Everything about her was incredible. How Corey fell in love with her and how she returned the favor was also incredible. Ever since she joined the team they had some sort of special connection…and it obviously transferred into a more realistic connection.  
 
​Taking his index finger, he slowly prodded inside her pussy. It was warm and moist, yet quite tight, even to one finger. As he pressed it in farther and farther, Alexi arched her back.
 
​“Oh god Corey, that feels good…”
 
​Corey would have loved to burrowed into her pussy, licking deeply and loving her with his tongue. But she wasn’t into oral sex, which was ok with him. The whole sex experience was somewhat new to her anyways, seeing as he had broken her hymen only a month earlier.
 
​She found that oral sex took away from the romance and focused on the sex, which isn’t what she wanted. He had only encouraged sleeping together for a deeper relationship, and she accepted the offer.
 
​Now their relationship knew no bounds, constantly getting hotter and stronger every day and every night. Despite recent events, he was going to continue to do the same tonight.
 
​Pulling back his finger, he replaced it in her pussy but now accompanied with a second finger. Alexi took a deep gasp and arched her back even higher. When he started sliding in and out, she leaned up and took hold of his face, kissing it while he continued to finger her.
 
​He sped his motioning into her. She closed her eyes and moaned. Suddenly, her body shuddered and her legs clamped together, around his arm. With about a dozen or so vibrations, a burst of liquid released onto Corey’s fingers and hand. Her head was thrown back. Sweat glossed her entire body.
 
​She looked back at Corey, panting. “That was…amazing! Good god, Corey, you’re good at that.”
 
​“Thanks.” He said, wiping the juice off his fingers. “Want to continue?”
 
​She nodded vigorously. She leaned forward and gave him a passionate kiss. Their tongues slide across eachother.
 
​When the kiss ended, Corey pulled off his shorts. He showed off with pride his good sized cock. Alexi grinned and laid back down and spread her legs. He got over the top of her in the missionary position. He lined up his cock and her pussy. With the head of his cock set against her pussy, he looked her in the eyes.
 
​“Ready?”
 
​She had her hands near her pussy, spreading it open. She nodded and took a deep breath.
 
​Corey pressed forward and slowly buried himself in her. She opened her mouth and voiced a soundless cry. As he pulled out, she released a moan that shook the bed. He pressed back in, then slid back out with the same result. Every thrust felt like he was gaining another year at the end of his life. The driving force of his life depended on his movement tonight.
 
​Corey gradually began to speed the paces of his thrusts. Alexi continued to moan. She grabbed his back and her nails bit into his skin. Already Corey could feel an orgasm building in himself, but he knew how to hold it back and did so. This was more about Alexi than himself.
 
​No drug, no narcotic, no shot of ecstasy or adrenaline could match the incredible feeling he was experiencing. He hoped Alexi was feeling the same.
 
​“Corey…” She said, bouncing forward and backwards on the bed. “I’m going to come soon…”
 
​“I will when you’re ready.” Corey said. He pushed harder. His muscles burned with sexual rage to push harder and faster, to make the experience the most amazing thing they had or ever will feel. Until next time, of course, when he outdid the last time.
 
​Alexi threw her head back and closed her eyes. Her nails spiked into his shoulder blades. Her legs arched into the air. Sweat reflected in the dim lights. With a burst of moans, screams and pure ecstasy, they both orgasmed together.
 
​The most powerful form of love just blasted between them. As an immediate response, both their bodies produced an uncanny amount of a natural hormone. When they stared into eachother’s eyes, their minds became fused in the other one’s mind, bonding them together as one person.
 
​Corey slumped sideways and took deep breaths. Alexi collapsed where she was and did the same. After a minute of recoup, Alexi reached over and hugged Corey, wrapping a leg around his. She placed both hands on his cheeks and kissed deeply. He placed a hand on her lower back and the other on the back of her head, returning the kiss.
 
​Then they sat there, caressing and rubbing each other. Corey made good use of her breasts while she rubbed his chest and shoulders.
 
​“That was amazing.” She said.
 
​“Yes, that was.” Corey whispered into her ear. He curled her into a hug. “I love you Alexi.”
 
​“I love you too.”
 
​“I swear to god I’ll never leave you or ever try to hurt you.”
 
​With each other in their arms, and a blanket haphazardly thrown over them, they drifted off to sleep.

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