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A short intro by Ready – this story was NOT written by myself. It was by Ragnarok385 who lent a hand on the dialog and behind the scenes scripting for some of the later Growth Labs. I wanted to put this story out for your enjoyment and let you see the previously unpublished things we were working behind the scenes.
Feedback is welcome of course but please use your common sense and civility. Critical comments are always welcome whereas simply complaining and snarky comments are not. This is a small community folks and you get nothing from tearing people down.
A Game of Cards story by Ragnarok385 – first published 2013.09.04
(Ready Art – this is after GLab 13)
Sometime after the events at the airport…
“Could you have found a more dismal place to hide out?”
“For once I have to agree with Alexander,” Luna said looking back down the rickety hallway, “For God sakes there’s a man shooting up right there–”
“I don’t want to hear a damn thing from either of you!” Hannah rounded on the ragged pair behind her. “After that shit you pulled in the airport, we’re lucky there aren’t sirens whirring all over the place right now.”
“Actually, in China they don’t use sirens on their police vehicles.” Alexander said out of habit. It wasn’t until he looked up to meet Hannah’s eyes a second later that he realized he was going to have to break that habit, quickly. The General, currently wearing a Hello Kitty T-shirt that looked four sizes too big, and a pair of jeans with a large rip down nearly the entire length of one pant leg, certainly had looked better. Especially now that she was glaring at Alexander, and her mouth was moving but no words were escaping from it. Alexander was extremely grateful for that. “I’m sorry. I’ll keep my mouth shut.”
Hannah’s mouth stopped working, and closed violently, as she turned and walked down the hallway once more, Luna and Alexander following her brisk pace. A few moments later Hannah was inserting a key into a lock and throwing her shoulder into the door and striding into the open room, wiping the grime off of her shirt. Luna and Alexander followed her inside the room, as Hannah reached for a light switch along the back wall.
A dull yellow light illuminated what Luna could only describe as the most run down hostel room she had ever seen. Well, not that I’ve seen many, she corrected herself, but they had to be better than this. Three beds, if you could call them that, lined the back wall, each one bolted to the wall to prevent their removal, but whoever would want just a board, with a mattress that looked like it had more corners than springs, was beyond Luna. Next to each bed stood a small nightstand with a single drawer, the middle one had a small lamp atop it, which provided the limited light to the room. A small table, four chairs and a desk sans a chair stood tucked away in the corners of the room.
Luna watched as Alexander strode towards one of the beds on the far side and collapsed onto the lumpy mattress seemingly without a care in the world. The bolts on the wall creaked slightly from his added weight, hinting at the length of time since they’d last been used. Luna for her part sighed and walked over to the table and chairs, grabbing a chair and pulling it around to face Hannah who was busy pacing at the other end of the room.
As Luna sat down she became painfully aware of how sore her body still was from the impact of her re-entry just a couple days ago. Running all this way from the airport fiasco certainly hadn’t helped ease the pain of her muscles, and even now as she sat her calves protested vigorously. She absently rubbed at her legs, feeling the holes and tears where the sweatpants they had gotten her had seen better days. With a sigh she sat back up and unzipped the front of her sweatshirt, the only thing they could find to hide the enormity of her chest, besides the button down shirt Alexander had had the presence of mind to take from the packs before they were confiscated.
“So what do we do now?”
Hannah stopped her pacing and sighed, un-slinging her backpack that she had managed to get away from security and letting it rest atop the desk at her side. Then, as if the weight of the world were on her shoulders, Hannah slowly slumped down onto the floor, back against the desk as her legs stretched out in front of her, and replied, “I don’t know yet, Alexander.”
“Well I think protocol would dictate that we check in with command to receive further instruction.” Alexander said quietly tossing his legs over the side of the bed and entering an upright position. “I still have some contacts in the area that may be able to help us.”
“No, by now our government is probably talking quite a pretty story around what happened back at the airport,” Hannah said shaking her head, “Protocol also dictates that should any op go south the operatives are on their own in the field.”
“But this wasn’t exactly an op,” Alexander said confused as he looked back and forth from Luna to Hannah, “Was it?”
“You don’t know who we are do you?”
“Should I?” Alexander said still confused. “I was just told this was a transport mission for two ranking officers.”
“Was that really all the information that was in the briefing?” Hannah asked raising an eyebrow.
“Yes…well now that you mention it, it was pretty vague on a lot of the details. Nothing like the briefs I usually get.”
“They told him nothing to protect him,” Luna said from her chair on the other side of the room. “You can’t lie about what you don’t know.”
Hannah let out a chuckle followed by a sigh, “So you’ve just been following orders from us because you knew we were ranking officers?” Hannah let out another chuckle, “this is why I hate new recruits.”
“Well to be honest, following orders has never been my strong suit.”
“Clearly.” Hannah said flatly, all humor gone.
“Give him a break Hannah,” Luna said from the other side of the room, “you would have done the same thing.” Then with a bit of venom, “following orders isn’t exactly your strong suit either.”
“Don’t you dare.” Hannah said glaring at Luna, her gaze ice cold.
Alexander found himself looking at a time bomb between two of the most frightening women he had ever met, and the clock was quickly approaching zero. “Look, no sense fighting. I don’t really care who you two are, and clearly there’s some history between you, and I have no fucking clue what has been happening to us lately,” Alexander said in one breath, watching as the two women now turned their gazes on him. “But I do still have contacts here, not the military kind. Friends from my days back in the Academy, found out they were posted here in separate units. A lot of them owe me…favors. I could call some of them in and see what I can scrounge up for supplies–”
“No.”
“No?” Alexander said looking at Hannah, “What do you mean ‘no’?”
“If anyone is going outside this room it’s me,” Hannah said, “I’m the only one who can control what’s happening to us to some degree–”
“But I know the area–”
“And I know how to plan for an operation one hundred times more complicated than this.”
“But I–”
“Give it a rest Alexander,” Luna said from her chair, “Let the General do what she does best.”
Hannah simply turned an icy glare over to Luna, not even bothering to accept the nod in her favor. Setting her palms on the floor, she pushed herself into a standing position. Turning to the desk, she shouldered the backpack and walked towards the door.
As it opened Alexander couldn’t help but voice one more thing, “But you don’t even speak Mandarin.”
*SLAM*
Luna stared long and hard into the small ring she now held in her hand. It was exactly what she had always wanted, no, dreamed of getting. It was the culmination of all her hard work; she’d given everything to this one goal. This one simple little trinket. But there were only a handful of them in the world. And even then each one was a little different, each person allowed to request one thing to be engraved into the band to make it their own. As she turned the ring over in her hand she saw the small etching, and ran her fingers over the delicate craftsmanship of each letter.
P-E-R-S-E-V-E-R-A-N-C-E
No sooner had she finished running her fingers over the ring then she looked up as the Academy Director’s booming voice echoed across the chamber, “Today you have chosen ‘perseverance’, may you continue to live your life with this as your mantra. For if you do, no matter how much you may falter, you will never truly fail–”
“You okay Luna?”
Luna’s head swiveled around quickly to survey the surroundings as a small metallic *TING* of metal on wood echoed across the room.
“I’m sorry, Luna,” Alexander said as he continued to look at Luna with a curious eye, “I didn’t mean for you to drop your ring.” Luna looked down at the floor to see that her ring had fallen and sat upon the floor, the etching on the inside starting to wear away. As she bent over to pick it up she heard Alexander continue, “What is that? A ring? It must mean something very important to you, since you’ve been staring at it for the last hour.”
Luna sighed as she held the ring in her hand again, before chuckling slightly and sliding it back on her finger, “It’s just a trinket I picked up somewhere. Nothing special.”
Alexander laughed, gesturing to the deck of cards he was currently shuffling. “This piece of shit deck of cards means nothing to me,” gesturing to the leftover Go stones still amazingly in their pots, “These Go stones I found in the nightstand are nothing without a board.” And then he smiled his knowing smile, “But that, no that means something. Especially to you.”
“If you say so,” Luna said leaning back once more into her chair watching as Alexander began dealing out another hand of Solitare. “You know you would increase your chances at winning if you just flipped one card instead of three from the deck.”
“I’d win a lot more if I rigged the deck to wouldn’t I?” Alexander said without looking up from his game.
“And that’s why I could never play cards,” Luna smirked, “Too easy, all math and probability.”
“Not this game,” Alexander replied, “This game doesn’t fall into your stereotype, here it’s all luck of the draw.” Looking up from the game he regarded her curiously, “I’m sure you’re going to tell me that Poker is all about statistics too huh?”
“Well, it is a game based on a finite set of cards with only a distinct number of–”
“Ya, ya, ya.” Alexander said waving his hand dismissively, “But when it comes down to it, it doesn’t matter what cards are in the deck, but whether Lady Luck gave you the cards in your hand.”
Luna laughed, and raised her eyebrow, “You mean to tell me you believe in Lady Luck?”
“Well of course, have you ever gambled before?”
“No, it’s a stupid notion.” Luna said. “The odds of winning–”
“There you go again with ‘odds,'” Alexander said making a face and using air quotes. “Gambling has little to do with odds and a lot to do with luck of the draw.” Then Luna watched as a light bulb seemingly lit itself above Alexander’s head. “Alright, we’ll play poker to see who’s right.”
“Just the two of us?”
“Sure, why not?” Alexander said, gathering the cards and walking over to the table next to Luna.
“Well what are we going to wager with?”
Scanning the room, Alexander’s eyes fell upon the old Go stones lying in the corner where he had left them. “We’ll use the stones, you’ll have black ones and I’ll have the white ones.”
“I suppose you’re not going to take ‘no’ for an answer are you?”
“Absolutely not, now time to show you the real Lady Luck.”
“God damnit Luna, would you play a fucking hand!”
Luna looked confused across the table as Alexander slammed his cards down face up and shook his head exasperated. “I don’t understand why you’re upset, you won didn’t you?”
“Yes because you folded without even seeing the flop for the bajillionth time.”
“Well the probability of me winning with that hand was–”
“Ya I know,” Alexander said rolling his eyes, “Probably something like one in ten thousand.”
“Actually one in twenty thousand,” Luna said correcting him as she watched Alexander take his hands and slap himself in the face. At this she allowed herself a little smile. It’s not like I enjoy losing, but that hand was never going to win. Although, I do enjoy seeing him squirm like this, it’s almost kind of cute–
“What are you smiling about,” Alexander interrupted, a confused look on his own face now. “Are you even trying to win?”
“Of course I’m trying to win,” Luna said as she gestured towards the small piles of colored stones in front of her. “In fact I’ve won more often than you.”
“That’s because you don’t play if it isn’t a good hand,” Alexander sighed, “And I’m not going to just fold every time you want to play a hand because I know you have something good.”
“Well why not?” Luna said shrugging, and then using her hand to slide her sweatshirt back up onto her shoulder again she continued, “You’d lose a lot less if you did that you know.”
“Yes, but it wouldn’t be fun.” Alexander said exhaling deeply and shaking his head. “You do realize what fun is don’t you?”
“Sure,” Luna said as she let another smile creep to her lips, it’s watching you become flustered with trying to understand me.
“Then perhaps you can explain to me what your definition of ‘fun’ is.”
Luna shrugged, “Fun is toying with people when you’re the smartest one in the room and everyone else doesn’t know it. Fun is always being right, and when the chips are down,” she said gesturing to the cards and stones on the table, “and people need a tough decision to be made, they’ll beg you to give it to them.”
“So basically, fun for you is being an egotistical bitch.”
“Some call it that yes,” Luna said with a wink, “But mostly I just enjoy watching people squirm when they’re out of their comfort zone.”
At this Alexander leaned back in his chair and Luna saw a change in his demeanor; gone was the exasperation, and instead there was the probing look in his eyes from before. “Have you ever been out of your comfort zone Luna?”
“Well of course I have–”
“I don’t think you have.” Alexander interjected. That sly smile, the one Luna was beginning to both hate and like at the same time, crept onto his lips. “I don’t think you’ve ever done anything you thought was uncomfortable–”
“Yes I have,” Luna found herself challenging, the fires of competition quickly being stoked inside of her. “Before you continue, don’t forget I went to the same Academy you did–”
“And I bet you were immediately identified as one of the top percentile students so you got preferential treatment.” Alexander retorted, his voice calm and factual.
“There was no ‘special treatment’ at the Academy,” Luna said crossing her arms over her chest. “Everyone was treated exactly the same–”
“Di d you have a bed?”
“What?”
“Did you have a bed at the Academy?” Alexander said shrugging his shoulders, “It’s a simple question.”
“Of course I had a bed,” Luna said shaking her head, “It was in my room along with all my study materials for the labs–”
Luna was cut off by the roar of laughter from Alexander, “I knew it!”
“Yes I had the same thing you did.”
“Like hell you did,” Alexander said still smirking. “I knew from the moment I saw both of you that you were in the elite classes. They separated people like you at the start so you wouldn’t have to mix with the rest of us.”
“What are you talking about?” Luna said now genuinely confused.
“Like you, the people running the Academy didn’t want to take risks with their prized students so they kept you apart, trained you separately from the rest of us. You’ve never had to take a risk in your life that wasn’t already calculated in your favor.”
“You don’t know jack shit about what I had to go through, the risks I had to take. How much that place put me outside of my comfort zone.”
“You’re right,” Alexander said, still sporting that smile that Luna wanted to so very badly wipe off his smug face. “But I know what I went through, and that’s why I say sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.”
“A stupid phrase, since you can’t be lucky all the time.”
“Yes, but when you are,” Alexander leaned forward and spread his arms outwards as if gesturing to an audience, “you always look like the smartest one in the room.”
I want to wipe that stupid smile right off his face, Luna’s mind was screaming at her. I want nothing more than to prove you wrong Alexander–
“You think I’m wrong don’t you? I can see it in your eyes, you want to prove me wrong. You want to prove that it’s always better to be good than lucky.”
“You’re damn right I do!” Luna found herself yelling. She could feel all the pent up emotions bubbling to the surface. All those emotions she had stored from dealing with Hannah all this time were now being summoned forth to put this insignificant young man in his place. He doesn’t deserve this, but well he brought it out of me and I’ll be damned if I’m backing down from a challenge, she found herself thinking as she realized she was now standing after her last outburst and slowly lowered herself into her seat. Alexander for his part was simply smiling, I’m sure he got quite the eyeful of my cleavage from that angle, she thought. But as she seated herself once again, she couldn’t help but look at him in a different light. It’s one thing to have Hannah contradict me, but Alexander isn’t even close to my rank or skill. And yet there he is sitting smug with that same knowing smile, like there’s something I’m missing… She let her thoughts wander as she realized a different sort of heat was building up inside of her, not the cold anger she felt when dealing with Hannah, but something warm, competitive…alluring.
“Well then let’s play a game shall we? Just to prove I’m right that with some higher stakes you’ll lose big time.”
“Alright I’m in. What did you have in mind?” Luna said gesturing to the room.
“Poker again,” Alexander said picking up the cards. But as he saw Luna begin to roll her eyes he held up a finger to still her. “But this time we won’t be playing for little colored stones. Clearly that didn’t raise the stakes high enough, so how about this: Strip Poker.”
Absolutely not! Luna heard her mind yell out. He’s just a little kid hoping to get some cheap T&A. Or at least that’s what her rational mind was yelling out, and the rest of her mind may have actually heard it had the flames of competition not been roaring inside her whole body drowning out everything else. All Luna really heard inside her mind was these two simple words: You’re on!
“I hope you enjoy posing nude Alexander,” Luna said as she swept her stones into the pot on her side of the table, “Because loser stays naked until Hannah comes back.”
Alexander’s face split into a huge grin, “Now we’re talking. I can’t wait to see the rest of that body in all its glory.”
“And I can’t wait to see you cower in the corner when Hannah gets back.” Luna said with a wicked grin. “Five card draw?”
“You got it.”
“Have to have at least a pair for the hand to count?”
“Sounds fair, I would hate to beat you solely on high card.” Alexander said as he shuffled the cards absently.
“One article per hand minimum?”
“I’ll play by whatever rules you want, Luna. If you want to be naked faster, by all means we can do that.”
“Just shut up and deal.” Luna said leaning forward on the table, “And we’ll see who’s going to show the General their birthday suit.”
Luna looked down at her hand once more and couldn’t believe she was going to do it. Staring back at her were three 9s, an ace, and a 2, and she knew she had thrown away a 10, and a 7 hoping to get something to compliment her impressive three-of-a-kind she’d gotten from the deal. Or at least it she thought it was impressive until Alexander had declared that he wasn’t going to trade any of his cards with ones from the deck, and then proceeded to raise the pot to two articles of clothing. “I can’t believe I’m doing this but I fold.” She said slamming her cards down on the table frustrated.
“And here I was hoping you’d grow a backbone already,” Alexander said grabbing the deck, shuffling all the cards into it absently. His eyes were focused elsewhere. “So what’ll it be this time Luna? You’ve got to be out of jewelry and trinkets by now.”
“Shut it Alexander, you’re not going to get your show anytime soon.” Luna said venomously, or at least she had meant it to come out that way. Instead it sounded almost like she was enjoying herself, And I am not enjoying myself, she reminded herself yet again.
Luna had to give him credit, he was working really well with what he had, especially since she figured she was wearing five or six additional “articles” of clothing. She reached down and removed her other shoe, putting off to the side of the table with her ring, necklace, bracelet, and its twin. She’d already lost five hands, and the only thing she had to show for it was one of Alexander’s boots. She’d watched him throw it nonchalantly into the corner of the room after she’d won her lone hand so far with the same grin on his face as the one he now had.
“What’s the matter run out of things loosely considered ‘clothing’ already?”
“Shut up and deal, so I can take that other shoe from you.”
Alexander chuckled as he began dealing the cards, “You know if we keep this up I won’t even be down to my boxers by the time you’re naked in that chair.”
“Good, I’d hate to see how much of a little prick you really are,” Luna replied picking up her hand. She had to fight hard not to let her eyes grow wide at the four hearts and a club she had in her hand. “Let’s say we raise the ante a little on this one?”
“Oh what’d you have in mind?”
“Shirt for shirt.”
“You must really want to get me undressed,” Alexander slyly replied.
“You wish, but I do know how much you want to get me undressed. So how bout it Alexander, you in this hand?”
She watched as he looked down at his hand and then back at Luna, that stupid smile still plastered on his face. “Sure why not? How many you need?”
“Just one.” Luna said as she watched Alexander burn the top card adding it to the club she had just thrown away. Her new card slid to a stop in front of her as Alexander discarded a pair of cards from his hand and after burning another, dealt himself two more cards. Luna reached down to grab her new card and when she saw it she had to once again stop her eyes from betraying her, but this was a different emotion; it was disappointment.
“Well, you going to bet again?” Alexander said from across the table, leaning back in his chair.
Luna looked down at her hand, and instead of seeing the flush she was expecting, all she saw now was a pair of 4s, one of them a heart, the other her sole diamond. “I check.”
“Hmm, well then I raise you a second article of clothing, of your choosing.”
“I raise you a third article,” Luna said, hoping to buy her way out of this one.
Alexander cocked his head a little, the smile momentarily wavering, but only for a moment. “I’ll call. Show me what you got.”
Luna laid her hand down on the table and sighed.
“Aww, so close.” Alexander said taunting, “too bad I drew my second pair from the deck,” he said as he laid his hand down in front of him revealing two 10s, and two jacks. “Now we’re getting somewhere, lose the shirt and two more pieces my dear.”
“I am not your ‘dear,'” Luna said as she reached down to remove her socks and place them inside her boots. “And stop staring.”
“But the best part is about to start.”
“Sorry to disappoint Alexander,” Luna said as she unzipped her sweatshirt and wriggled out of it. “But I’ve got two shirts on.”
“Oh that’s cheating,” Alexander said, a mock pout on his face. “But at least now I can see a little bit of that fine cleavage of yours.”
“Enjoy it while you can. It’s all you’re going to see.” Luna said taking the cards and shuffling them.
“Not the way you’re playing Luna,” Alexander laughed, “It’s almost as if you want to be naked in a room with me. Not that I’d mind of course–”
“Can it.”
Alexander only laughed again, as Luna began dealing out the cards once more. “So when’s the last time you were naked in a room with another man.”
Luna nearly messed up the deal as she looked up stunned at Alexander, “What?!”
“You heard me.”
Flustered Luna finished dealing and replied “That’s none of your business,” hoping to end the conversation by picking up her hand.
“Sooooo, you don’t remember or you don’t want to tell me?”
“Either, both, I don’t know!”
“Wow he must have been pretty bad then for you not to remember.”
“You’re really not going to let this go are you?”
“Not until you give me an answer.” Alexander said one hand on the cards, his fingers rolling over the cards. “Unless of course you’re embarrassed to say you’re a virgin.”
“I am not a virgin!” Luna found herself shrieking out. She looked across the table to see Alexander’s face nearly burst out into laughter, but he kept it together as he continued staring at her his eyebrow arched slightly. I cannot believe I just shouted that out to him, Luna thought as she now felt the heat burn in her cheeks. I know barely anything about him and after just a little goading I go and say that. C’mon I’m better than this–
“So was he good?”
Luna looked over the top of her cards at Alexander, his face still holding that smug little grin she had failed so far to wipe off his face. “That’s none of your business.” Is what Luna’s mind was telling her to say, but instead what came out was, “I rocked his world. Now you going to bet on this hand little man?”
“Wow, there’s the fire I wanted to see.” Alexander said, picking up his hand to look at it for the first time. “So you do know how to use that body, it’s not just for show.”
“It’s too bad you’ll never be able to experience it, or I’d rock your world too.” Luna said as she stared at her hand. What the hell am I saying? I can’t believe this. Oh god, what if he thinks I’m flirting with him… and then another thought hit her like a ton of bricks, or rather a wave of warmth flooding into her body would be more appropriate. Or am I?
Alexander couldn’t help but smile. There were three things he had come to understand about poker from all his years of playing: the first of those being that poker is not a game of cards, but a game of people. Rule number one, you always play the man, not the cards, he found himself reciting in his mind. In this case it happens to be a woman with an incredibly hot body and a gigantic rack, but the person underneath that couldn’t be any more different than the exterior would lead anyone to believe.
Alexander mentally ticked off the first point, and continued to the second one, know when to give it up. Even though this is a game of people, in the end, your cards can only bring you so far and knowing when to call it quits is what separates losers from the winners. Certainly this also built off of the first rule, being able to tell if a person was going to fold when pushed, or push harder, or even reverse the tables was a quality a good poker player was able to read in his opponents.
And last, but certainly not least, I’m really good at both of those things, Alexander thought. You don’t become the best blackmailer in the Academy without being able to understand leverage, over people, over things, and most importantly what they have over you. He looked across the table at Luna, her breasts nearly resting on the edge of the table despite sitting back in her chair. He could have sworn she had scooted closer to give it that effect, but in the end the effect was there: Alexander was staring.
He had to hand it to Luna, at first it was so easy to get her to do whatever it was he wanted in this game. Calling his hands, folding when he was only bluffing, it was like she was strictly playing the odds of the hands, and more importantly was expecting him to do the same. After all, he mused, who in their right mind would raise on a hand that they’ve only got a 10 high in. I did, because Luna wasn’t expecting it. But as Alexander looked at his hand now, for the first time it looked like Luna was finally starting to get the hang of it.
Is she as good as me though? I doubt it, Alexander thought as he looked down at yet another miserable hand, best he could do was hope for a flush draw off the pile, sheer dumb luck, he thought, but then that’s what he was out to prove wasn’t it.
“I’ll wager one,” Alexander said.
“I’ll call,” Luna said setting her hand down on the table to her side. She then leaned forward in her chair, reaching for the deck. Alexander couldn’t help but stare into the cleavage that suddenly came on display.
God I could get lost in those and be the happiest man ever. I mean look at them, they’re so round and big and–
“Hey Earth to Major Tom,” Luna said snapping her fingers at Alexander. “I said, ‘how many cards you want?'”
“Oh, uh, three.” Alexander said simply grabbing three cards from his hand and laying them face down to take the three Luna was handing him. As he raised the cards to his hand he couldn’t believe his luck, Yes all diamonds, drew a flush what are the–wait a minute what the hell is that spade doing in my hand? He had to stop himself from face palming. I threw away the wrong damn card, how could he be so stupid, staring into her cleavage like that–
“You gonna bet Alexander?” Luna said as she looked at him from across the table, her hand still face down where she had left it before, hands folded across her chest.
“Aren’t you going to trade in?”
“Nah, I like my hand. Something wrong with yours?”
“Nope,” Alexander quickly recovered. “But I’ll check and see what you’re offering to lose this time.”
“Oh how very noble of you,” Luna said without even picking up her hand. “I guess I’ll wager this shirt then,” she said tugging at her shoulder. “It really is uncomfortable rubbing against my bare skin the way it is.”
Alexander watched as she took her finger and looped it under the collar of her shirt and slowly pull it towards her shoulder, the material stretching to reveal more of her chocolate colored skin beneath. He had to practically tear his eyes away from the show, ya ok she’s getting the hang of this, he thought as he realized, a little painfully, how tight his jeans actually were in certain areas. But I’m not going to fall for this one, I still want to win the war, not just the battle, “I fold.”
“Aww,” Luna said tossing her cards onto the deck and sliding it towards Alexander, leaning generously across the table, “And here I was hoping to see how good that hand really was. Guess you weren’t so lucky.”
“Ya well, you can’t win ’em all can you?” Alexander said taking his sock off of his bootless foot and tossing it over his shoulder. “Just wasn’t meant to be that time.”
“Well, I think you’re lucky streak is about to run out,” Luna said watching Alexander deal the cards. “I’m about to hit my stride.”
“If you say so,” Alexander said as he looked to his own hand. He had two pair kings and 10s, a good start, but let’s see what Luna opens with.
“Hmmm, I’m going to need to think on this one,” Luna said as she set her hand down on the table and pushed her chair back from the table. That simple motion alone was enough to give Alexander a full view of the mountains hidden beneath her shirt as they hung down from the front of her chest, only to rise up with the rest of her as she got to her feet.
“Where you going?” Alexander asked, then putting his game face back on, “Getting a little too hot at the table for you?”
“Oh please with you sitting there the table’s about as cold as it could be.” Luna said over her shoulder as she walked away from the table. “I just needed to stretch my legs, we’ve been sitting there for a while after all.”
Stretch her legs was right, Alexander thought to himself as he watched Luna’s rear walk away from him in style. But as Luna walked away it was almost as if something was out of place, something just so subtle that most would probably overlook it, but I could have sworn her pants weren’t nearly that form fitting earlier. But I suppose we have been sitting here a while, could just be stuck, he thought as he suddenly realized how warm it actually was in the room. Gotta hand it to this place, would have thought it was going to be incredibly drafty with all the holes in the walls and what not. Guess when you’re cramped in like sardines body heat makes up for insulation these days.
His eyes followed Luna back and forth as she paced, rolling her neck from side to side, not that she needs any extra insulation. But there was something nagging at him as soon as he thought that. Like the fragment of a dream he’d had, but couldn’t remember all of it. For some reason an image of Luna and the General came to his mind, the three of them were on a bus, and Luna was trying to sweet talk Alexander into doing something. He remembered looking back and seeing endless breasts, bigger even than the ones Luna had now, but that’s not possible, I’d remember something like that…Well at least I hope I would, he thought. But Alexander had to admit, there were some pretty gaping holes in his memory these days. Like he knew he had picked the two women up with a bus, and that he was driving them back to the base, but for the life of him he couldn’t remember how they’d gotten to the base, or how they’d gotten out of the airport–
“You didn’t hear me again did you Alexander?”
“I’m sorry, what was that?” Alexander said snapping too looking to see Luna leaning over the back of her chair.
“I said, ‘I’m betting my pants that this hand beats yours,'” she said. “Care to take that bet?”
Alexander looked down at his hand, the two pair staring him in the face.
“What’s the matter Alexander, afraid to show off that tiny hard on you’re trying to hide underneath that table?”
With that line, Alexander tuned back into the task at hand, I’ll show you who you’re playing with, “Alright I’ll call. How many you need before I get to see what color the General picked out for you underneath those sweatpants.”
“I’ll take two,” Luna said as she watched Alexander begin to deal out the cards, “Although who says I’m wearing anything underneath these?”
Alexander’s hand slipped and the card he was dealing flipped over before it got to Luna, revealing the ace of hearts. “Sorry, hand must of slipped,” Alexander blurted out trying to hide the flush going to his cheeks, and similarly to his crotch.
He reached out to take the card back and felt Luna’s hand rest atop his, “No, I like this card, I’ll keep it.” And she slowly slid the card out from underneath Alexander’s fingertips. “But since you know what it is I suppose I can put it right here then,” She said reaching between into the V of her shirt to place the card square between her breasts. “Hope that’s not too distracting for you Alexander.”
“You’re finally starting to get the hang of this,” Alexander said a sly smile creeping onto his face. “I was starting to think you were just going to let me win.”
“Why I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Luna said laying the other four of her cards down on the table, “I’m just playing with the hand I was dealt.”
Ain’t that the truth, Alexander thought as he took his one card from the pile after burning the first one. Although the 8 of spades wasn’t especially helpful, he still had the two pairs. “I’ll raise you another article.”
“Well, I’ll have to call you on that one Alexander,” Luna said then with a smile, “Show me what you got, and I don’t mean in that hand of yours.”
Alexander laughed, “No Luna, I think I’ll be winning this one,” he said as he laid down his two pair.
Luna sighed, “what was it you said earlier, ‘you can’t win them all’? Well that’s certainly true in this case.” Luna said throwing down her hand, four hearts showing. “Oh, oops I forgot this one too,” She said reaching in between her breasts and throwing down the ace. “It’s too bad, if it was your deal I was going to let you fish that card out on your own,” Luna said a twinkle in her eye, “but instead I think I’ll enjoy watching you lose those jeans, and something else.
I am losing track of her? Alexander found himself thinking as he stared at the table. I must have missed something, before she was calculated, she never would have made that bet pre-draw she had nothing–
“Jeez Alex, and here I was expecting a show not just a staring contest between you and my chest.” Luna said jolting Alexander out of his blank staring. “But if you insist on having one, I’d have to tell you that I’m pretty sure my chest will win every time.” Luna said, her voice playful as she half stood and leaned, revealing more of her pendulous breasts.
Oh I’m definitely missing something, a part of Alexander’s mind was trying to scream to him. Unfortunately, that part was competing heavily with the growing urge to not care, and as Alexander retreated into his mind he saw his desire like a tsunami threatening to break. And his consciousness, his rational thought, was holding nothing more than an umbrella.
“You know I could help if you’re zipper is stuck,” Luna said giving Alexander a wink.
It was almost as if Alexander was detached from his consciousness as he often was when he dreamed. Standing above his consciousness, holding its little umbrella of rationalism, he could have sworn he heard him say, Well shit, as the wave of desire began to fall…
Now this was fun, Luna thought as she shuffled mindlessly, while across the table poor Alex was losing his mind. And that would be terrible, a new voice inside her head was saying, I was just starting to enjoy playing with him.
Luna smiled at that. She was fortunate enough to remember about this place, during her game. Her subconscious looked around at the pool at her feet, already warm to her touch, but she knew the figure she saw walking towards her, waist deep in its waters wanted it much, much hotter. Luna watched as the figure that looked like her approached her subconscious and reached out a hand to stroke the side of her face, I really hope he hasn’t snapped, I was just getting warmed up after all. Twirling away, Luna watched as the figure grew a little taller, her body filling out in all the right places, I hadn’t even gotten to the best parts.
Well luckily, Luna found herself snapping back to reality, I haven’t seen his best parts yet either. She wasn’t exactly sure whether she meant it when she said she’d help Alex out of his pants, but part of her was definitely curious. And now that she was winning thanks to her little friend, she might even get that chance.
But, Luna, you can’t really want this can you? Her rational side cried out in exasperation pointing to the figure in the middle of the pool inside her head, You remember what happened last time?
I’ve got it under control this time, Luna thought back.
That’s what you said last time, and look how that turned out.
Look, don’t get in my way. Luna could almost hear the command in her thought as she turned towards the figure in the pool. Besides, with her I’m winning.
“So you still need help with those–”
*THUMP*
Luna jumped back a little as the table rocked a little. She looked over to Alex who was tossing a pair of pants over his head, and another boot soon followed. “Did you just hit the table with your knee?”
“Uh, ya, sure, my knee, yeah.” Alex stuttered out as he shifted a little in his chair.
“Well here I was expecting a little bit more daring from you after that little loss.” Luna smiled as she winked again at Alex, “I thought you’d be more bold Alex.”
“Since when do you call me ‘Alex’?” Alex said cocking his head a little as Luna continued to shuffle.
“Well, ‘Alexander’ is just too much of a mouthful, and besides we’ve gone through quite a bit together, we can skip the formalities don’tcha think?”
Alex shrugged as Luna smiled, “So you ready to lose more than just those pants? I think I’m getting my second wind,” Luna said sucking in a huge breath mocking the notion. She continued inhaling until she heard the small sound of fabric tearing, and felt a little bit of the stitching under her armpit give way. She exhaled immediately, not wanting to push the old shirt’s luck, and judging from Alex’s look he had seen it too. “Guess I shouldn’t do that again. I can’t afford to just give away my bargaining chips.”
“I wholeheartedly disagree,” Alex said with a smile, “but in that case I’ll have to try and take them the hard way.”
Luna started to deal the cards and couldn’t help but poke at Alex, “Where’d all that confidence go? You were Mr. Big Shot a while ago, and now you’re talking about ‘trying’ to win.”
“Who do you think you are? Yoda?” Alex said as he gathered his cards. Then in a mock impression he said, “Try not, do. There is no try.”
Luna giggled, and then caught herself. Did I really just giggle? And at a Star Wars joke? Shaking her head, smile still plastered on her face, thank God Hannah isn’t here right now to hear this. “How many you need Alex?”
“Need? Hell I want to re-deal this hand,” he said and shook his head, “I’m not going to bet, and I’ll take two.”
“You wanna re-deal, but only want two cards,” Luna said smirking, “Someone thinks you’re bluffing.”
“Then call me on it,” Alex said as he took the two cards Luna dealt him, “Unless you’re too pussy.”
“I’ve got more pussy than you can handle if you must know,” Luna said before looking down at her hand, she had two pair, kings and 4’s, “I only need one card to beat you though.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure.”
“Of what? Beating you?”
“No of having too much pussy,” Alex said leaning back in his chair, that smug grin returning to his face.
But something is different about it, Luna thought as she stared him down. He looks almost too confident, like he knows something I don’t–
Who cares, said the Luna figure in the pool of her mind. Luna’s subconscious finally brought the figure into focus, her body now easily much bigger than Luna’s normal size, and as Luna lowered her feet into the pool she instantly felt the heat flow into her body. She wanted to savor the feeling, the feeling of pleasure and warmth coursing through her body, but the figure spoke again, I mean look at how jacked he is. He’s ripped, and look at his hands, they easily dwarf those cards, and with a wink Luna’s direction, and you know what they say about big hands.
Subconscious Luna blushed, the heat rising this time to her lips…both sets. Well what are you waiting for, the Luna figure said exasperate, go play, and don’t forget to let me join in too–
“I’m betting one article, Luna. Care to match it or you going to fold?”
Luna looked down at her hand of four cards and the one in her other hand and brought the two together. Although the 5 didn’t help her hand any, she still had two pair. She could still feel the blush on her cheeks as she looked Alex up and down, confirming what the figure had told her subconscious. Damn he is jacked. How come I never noticed it before, he actually looks kinda sexy, “Alright, I’ll take your bet, and raise you my shirt.”
“You mean in addition to the one item?” Alex said, she could see his eyes hungrily looking her over. She wasn’t sure whether that was a giveaway of how good his hand was, or if his mind was simply imaging things.
“No I mean one article, but specifically shirts.” Luna took one finger and slowly slid it up the inside of her V-neck, towards her shoulder, lightly caressing the top of her breast the entire way. ”I think you’d agree it’s a raise.”
“Can’t argue there.” Alex said, without taking his eyes off the prize, “Show ’em.”
Luna laid down her hand, her two pair showing prominently, “Tough luck for you Alex.”
“Oh I wouldn’t say that,” Alex said laying down his hand, stacked up one card atop the other. Luna watched as he slowly moved the top cards to the side, 6, 5, 4, 3, “and last but not least.” Alex said as he revealed the final card as a 2. “Now for the moment I’ve been waiting for.” Alex said rubbing his big hands together, “Now remember to do it nice and slow, so that they peek out just a little bit from underneath–”
“Thought about this quite a bit haven’t you?” Luna interjected. Then she felt a prick on her subconscious, the water of the pool was scalding hot now, and she could feel it flowing into her body. Her subconscious looked up as it saw the figure’s sultry walk towards her through the water, I think it’s my turn to drive, the figure said. Leaning forward she wrapped Luna’s subconscious in a very warm, loving, and altogether sexy embrace while behind them both the waters of the pool surged.
Luna’s mind snapped back to reality, and her knowing smile was replaced with one oozing sensuality, she felt her eyes had an extra twinkle to them, and she knew then there was no turning back. Nor did she want to.
Alexander was barely able to maintain enough focus to stare, let alone form coherent thoughts. It was a fucking miracle I drew those cards–Who cares!? TITS dude, motherfucking huge TITS! And they’re coming your way right now!– Oh ya, I won didn’t I, what’d I win again–
“I have a better idea though Alex,” Luna said from her side of the table, “I think I’ll take this off a special way, just for you.”
Just for me? Wow, I wonder what it is?–Would you shut it, who cares? We’re going to see monster titties, man, monster…tits…oh…oh…damn… was all Alexander’s consciousness, sub consciousness, and any other part of his brain that was still functioning could say as they stared blankly at the scene in front of them.
Luna’s hands traveled down her shirt, pushing against her body to show its outline beneath the fabric. Her right hand reached below the table, and Alexander could see her lean back in her chair, giving Alexander a glimpse of her hand underneath the waistband of her sweatpants. His imagination didn’t have to travel too far to know what was going on as a moan escaped her lips, her left hand massaging her now erect nipple through the shirt.
If she keeps this up, there’s no way I’m hiding my… Alexander began to think, but his mind was again sidetracked, the sounds of tearing fabric falling upon his ears through the various moans escaping Luna’s mouth. What happened next, Alexander’s mind simply couldn’t comprehend, but that didn’t mean it didn’t try. Luna’s left hand suddenly grabbed a hold of her erect nipple as she screamed in ecstasy, and the nipple seemed to swell within the grip of her hand. It pushed and pushed against her fingers, forcing them wider and wider until Alexander watched it tear right through the front of her shirt. From there his eyes were moving rapidly, hoping to catch a glimpse of everything that was happening, hoping it wasn’t going too fast. Luna’s right nipple followed suit, forcing its way through the front of her shirt, the tear then traveled sideways, across the stitching of the fabric, ripping a large tear across the center of her shirt. Alexander watched as that tear grew larger and larger, threads unraveling at a frantic pace as though the flesh underneath the shirt was straining to become free. The tear soon became filled with Luna’s chocolate flesh, her lightened areola showing prominently as the gape continued to travel now on the other side of her engorged nipples. With a flash, he watched Luna’s left hand grabbed desperately at the edge of the tear and pulled frantically, trying to free more and more flesh. Her hand reached the tear underneath her armpit, and the entire side of Luna’s shirt fell away, now held up only by the neck hole and where it rested atop her enormous breasts, hanging off her nipples now the size of soda cans.
*RIIIIIIIPPPPPP* *THUD* *THUD*
“Well, well, guess I don’t have to ask if you liked the show,” Luna said a sultry grin on her face.
Alexander knew what had happened, but he still couldn’t help but look down to confirm it. Sure enough, his boxers sat underneath his body, or rather what scraps were left of them. I look ridiculously huge sitting on this puny chair, he couldn’t help but think. But that wasn’t what had Luna’s attention, and now his own. He looked at the massive rod of meat that stuck up in the air from between his legs, as wide as his leg, and just as long his cock twitched excitedly. He surprisingly felt no pain from flipping the table over with his erection, but now his eyes again turned to Luna to see what she would do.
And she didn’t disappoint. “My, my, you weren’t kidding when you said you might be able to fill my pussy.” Luna said as she reached up and ripped the remains of her shirt off at the neck letting it fall away to reveal her gigantic tits. “But let’s see how you taste first.”
Before Alexander could argue, not that he wanted to, Luna rose from the chair and got on her knees at the front of his cock head. Leaning forward, Luna’s tongue slowly began to make its way around the head of Alexander’s cock, wetting every inch it could find of skin. It took all of Alexander’s control to even hear that Luna was talking to him in between licks, “Why…mmpphh, don’t you…ahhhh, lay down so I can…oohhh, do this a little…mmmm, better.”
Alexander couldn’t get out of the chair fast enough. Within seconds he was on his back, his monster cock standing straight up in the air in front of Luna’s face. “Let’s give this little guy what he’s always wanted from these,” she said hefting her breasts with her hands. As massive as Alexander thought his cock was, the tip was barely visible from between the massive chocolate mountains of flesh that were now enveloping it. Alexander could feel Luna’s tongue along the length of his shaft, the saliva she left behind making it slick as her hands began to move her breasts up and down its length. Alexander was in heaven, and that was before Luna’s mouth opened and slid over the head of his cock, slowly sliding in and out in rhythm with her breasts.
At first, Alexander thought nothing of Luna’s mouth as it worked along his head, but soon it was beginning to work more and more of his cock, not just the head. Her tongue was working its way up and down the underside of his penis, her lips sucking harder and harder on his flesh. It wasn’t until he realized that almost a quarter of the length of his cock was being caressed by Luna’s mouth that he opened his eyes again.
Luna was huge. An understatement if ever there was one, but from where Alexander lay he could see that Luna had abandoned using her breasts and was instead lying atop them like pillows to hold her body aloft. Her mouth, which before had strained to fit over the head of his dick was now sliding up and down its length with ease.
Alexander gasped, and Luna must have heard it as she now opened her eyes and smiled down at Alexander. “Well, that was good for an appetizer, you up for the main course Alex?”
Alexander could only stammer as Luna got up from her position, and leaned back on her heels. Even still Alexander swore she was as tall as she had been standing up, and he gathered his feet beneath him to stand. He got about halfway up before Luna shouted, “Wait, STOP!”
Alexander looked up and saw that he was about only a foot away from the ceiling. Looking back down he saw that his cock, which had looked enormous before, now looked a little more normal, but still huge, on his larger body. “Where are you going Alex? I thought you were going to fill my pussy?”
Like a dog on a leash, Alexander’s head swung around to face Luna, the coy smile still on her face. With a wag of her finger, she invited him back down to his knees, and she leaned in and kissed him on the neck. “Show me what you’ve got big boy.”
That was all the insistence that Alexander needed, and in a single movement he put his hands on Luna’s massive breasts and pushed backwards. As her body lost its balance, her center of weight being extremely front heavy, Luna’s legs spread outwards at the knees, and as her shoulders lay flat on the ground Alexander’s mouth found a nipple.
Luna moaned loudly as Alexander’s tongue worked small circles around her nipple and areola while his other hand worked on her other nipple doing the same. With a practiced movement Alexander maneuvered his teeth and nibbled gently on the tip of Luna’s nipple eliciting a deep moan from the woman. And since you can never have too much of a good thing, he switched over to her other nipple, nibbling softly and kissing all around the sensitive skin. Meanwhile, his right hand had found its way beneath the mountains of flesh holding Alexander upright and was stroking Luna’s protruding clit.
The sheer amount of wetness was enough to make Alexander want to dive in right there, but he knew a couple things to make this even better. Sliding his body down those massive breasts left Luna moaning from the sensations, but she quickly changed into a quiet scream as her back arched from Alexander’s tongue against her clit. Alexander’s hands wrapped around Luna’s thighs and held her pussy aloft so his tongue could continue its work, the slickness now a mixture of her own juices and saliva. Her back arched again and a cry came forth from her lips as Alexander began to swirl his tongue inside her moistened lips, his hands simultaneously kneading at her luscious ass.
Alexander came up for air and at that moment he felt a hand on his head, and with a yank he found himself being pulled back up Luna’s body. As he came into sight of her face, she gasped out, “You…inside me…now!”
It was what Alexander was waiting for.
Luna watched as that crooked grin lit up on Alexander’s now chiseled and well defined face. She was about to say something else, when she suddenly couldn’t speak. Something very warm, very hard, and very big had just plunged into her, and everything she was thinking became a jumbled mess of colors, replaced with simple, raw, pure emotion.
For Alexander, it as though someone had made this pussy especially for him. He felt everything from the walls, to the thrusts, there was nothing that was un-stimulated, nothing unsatisfied.
If either Alexander or Luna could have brought themselves to generate any coherent thought, they might have noticed how the volume of their cries had risen almost tenfold from what their size would normally dictate. But, if they hadn’t noticed that, perhaps they might have noticed the simple fact that their feet were now pressed against the back wall, the cots having been blasted from their bolts by sheer force. Or maybe they would have noticed that with each and every thrust, Alexander’s back grew closer and closer to the ceiling of the small apartment. One would have expected them to notice that at some point the tacky wood floor had disintegrated beneath their powerful love making, or maybe that Luna’s hands were pushing heavily against a door that was its equal in size.
But although Alexander and Luna did not notice these things, it was not unnoticed by the others who were unfortunately sharing that same apartment building. As Hannah was finding out much to her dismay.
“Can you understand what all these people are talking about?” Hannah asked the relatively tall man beside her.
“That one over there,” he said pointing to a young man talking to a police officer while watching an elderly couple being carted away to an ambulance, “Is saying that both his parents suffered heart attacks from what he claims were, and I quote, ‘breasts as big as zeppelins, and a penis the size of the American Empire State Building.'”
“He really specified the American one?” Hannah asked, “Is there another one?”
“I don’t know,” The man said, as he looked around, “but judging from the fact that just this building was demolished I think he was exaggerating.”
“I hope so,” Hannah said as she looked at the remnants of what used to be the five story tenement building she had left Alexander and Luna in. “but for now let’s see if we can find them before the cops–” She was interrupted by a snicker from her companion and she rounded on him, “Something funny?”
“Actually yes,” he said trying to reign himself back in, “See that young woman over there? She’s asking the detective if he can get her some of whatever drug they were taking. She says her boyfriend could use a little boost.”
Despite it all, Hannah allowed herself a small snicker, “she doesn’t want what they’ve got, trust me.”
“I don’t know, sounds fun,” her companion said, as he put his hand over his crotch and slowly raised it as if to simulate a massive erection. That is before he got a backhand to his other arm from Hannah.
“Knock it off. You don’t want it either. Geez, sometimes I forget what a little kid you are at heart sometimes.”
“And by little kid you mean ‘immature spoiled brat?'”
“Exactly,” Hannah said with another smile, before turning back to survey the crowd. It was then that she spotted something in the distance, on the other side of the rubble, a downed light was projecting the picture of an “L” against the adjacent building. Or at least to Hannah it looked like an “L” and that was a good enough place to start. Grabbing her companion by the arm she gestured to the light, “C’mon let’s get over there and see if we can’t find them before the cops do.”
With a quick gesture that said “after you” Hannah took off towards the building with her companion close behind.
“Care to explain to me what the fuck happened?”
“Well just that, fu–”
“Things got a little out of hand, and I quickly reeled them in once I figured out what was going on.” Luna said cutting off Alexander.
“Uh, huh.” Hannah said shaking her head. “I couldn’t even leave you for a couple hours to go get help and you demolish a building.”
“Well it’s not like it was long before it was going to fall over on its own. I mean the way I see it we were doing a civil ser–”
“Can it Alexander! I’m not talking to you.” Hannah said as she rubbed her eyebrows.
“But I’m telling you it wasn’t our fault. Things just kind of spiraled out of control until Luna got control again.”
“What part of ‘can it’ did you not understand?” Hannah said exasperated.
“I don’t know the part where you asked nicely?” Alexander said shrugging his shoulders.
Laughter burst from the man standing just to Hannah’s left, and she turned to glare at him. He simply shrugged and said, “I like this kid.”
“You like him because he reminds you of you.”
“No, can’t be that. There’s only one of me.” The man said before pointing his finger at Alexander, “Although I’m always looking to train a pupil. You up for it kid? You already completed the first task.”
“And that was?” Alexander asked.
“Pissing me off.” Hannah said.
Alexander looked to the man who simply shrugged, “She’s right.”
“And if you don’t mind me asking, who the hell are you?” Alexander asked.
“That’s Kaito Tanaka,” Luna said as Alexander turned to face her, “he’s a top undercover operative for the US here in China, and–”
“Alright that’s enough Luna,” Hannah said cutting her off and glaring at her, “Alexander doesn’t need to know that.”
“Know what?” Alexander said, his interest piqued.
“None of your business!” Hannah said turning to Kaito, “Now you go get them new clothes and when you come back we can figure out how we’re getting out of here.”
Kaito looked from Hannah to Luna and then to Alexander and finally back to Hannah, “You’re really not going to tell him are you?”
“No, and neither are–”
“I’m her ex-fiancé.” Kaito said. With a quick glance at Luna’s shocked face, Alexander’s absolutely incredulous look, and Hannah’s jaw still hanging, he winked at Alexander and said, “First bit of info is always free, the rest you’ll have to pay for.” Turning back to Hannah he smiled and said, “Alright I’ll be back.”
He wasn’t ten paces away before a rock collided with his shoulder and he turned back to see Hannah still in the follow through motion. With a smile he turned and the trio could hear his laughing over his shoulder as he disappeared behind a nearby building.
The End