How I became the Empress of Hell

There was, indeed, Eternal Combat, along with dozens of other “old-school” VR games that the four of us played the hell out of for more than two solid hours. After reconvening at a nearby table with several drinks and a ridiculously large basket of fries, we chatted animatedly about some of our favorite games growing up. 

While Jade was regaling us with tales from her favorite game, a hugely popular zombie/horror first person shooter series that got turned into a somewhat less popular movie series (yes… that one.), I couldn't help but notice a group of guys leering at us from a nearby table. After following my gaze, Jade's voice drifted off as the other three looked where I was staring. Taking our acknowledgement of his existence as an invitation, one of the guys got up and walked over to our table.

“So… what brings four lovely ladies out to our little nerd haven?”

His gaze lingered on each of us before settling on Emily. It was incredibly obvious that he could easily see down her top from his angle, and he made no effort to hide this fact. His ice blue eyes devoured every inch of my fiancée's body and I had to stop myself from grinding my teeth. Of course, the guy looked like some blonde fashion model who had the jawline that would make most go weak in the knees. He obviously spent some time in the gym as well, if his one size too small polo showing off his muscular body was any indication. Before I even realized I was speaking, I found myself replying to this asshat's piss poor attempt at flirting.

“Oh, we got tired of playing Life Sim so we figured we would give some other games a try. Turns out they're really hard.”

The ass snickered at my obvious innuendo and turned his gaze towards me.

“Yeah, some of these games defined what real video games are all about… They're not like some of the half-finished shit devs put out nowadays.”

While I completely agreed with him, I refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right. Adopting my best "bimbo airhead" smile, I gave him a confused look.

“What are devs?”

“Game Developers. They're the ones who make the games.”

“Oh… that sounds like a hard job since there's obviously a lot that goes into making a game. If you don't mind me asking… what's your favorite game? Out of the ones here, I mean.”

He turned to look at the various games strewn about the open area before looking back at me with a grin that would have likely won an award or two for the number of panty drops it caused.

“Eternal Combat. Although… Eight was shit compared to Nine and Ten. It made some of the characters stupidly weak while others were way more OP than they should have been.”

I nodded dumbly and forced my face into a huge smile. 

“That one sounds cool. Can you show me?”

I could tell I wasn't really the focus of his attention, but as he studied me for a moment he seemed to decide I was suitable enough and he nodded. I slid out of the booth and stood up. I came up to the top of his chest, and it was obvious he loved how he absolutely towered over me. I gave him a dopey grin as I looked up at him.

“Shall we?” 

He nodded and turned to leave. I glanced back at the others and caught Emily's eye. Her amused expression said something between “Okay, have your fun…” and “Is this really necessary?” I stuck my tongue out at her and moved to follow Mr. Blue Eyes. After we both arrived at the huge console, he wiped off both headsets and handed me one. I put it on and moved closer to grab the controller.

“Whoa… The graphics on this game are insane! That's so cool!”

“Yeah, they look awesome, even for an old gen game like this. OK, so… Just pick a character and we can play a few practice rounds, yeah?”

I selected one of the female characters whose boobs were way too large and bouncy to be fighting like she did, and I had to force myself to keep from laughing as he selected one of the brawnier male characters whose fighting style focused on swinging around a giant sword that always looked way too phallic shaped in every iteration.

“OK, I'll select the stage if that's OK. We'll play on an easier map so we don't have to worry so much about accidentally falling off the edge.”

“Alright… just take it easy on me… this is nothing like Life Sim.”

He chuckled and the match started. I pretended to be struggling with the controls and after a moment I let out an exaggerated sigh.

“How do you jump like that? All I can seem to do is walk back and forth.”

“Hit the X button. It's the bottom one.”

“Oh, that's better, thank you!”

After playing a few rounds that he obviously let me win, I opted to really bait the hook.

“OK, let's play one where you go all out, yeah?”

“Are you sure? I've played this game a lot.”

“Yeah, I wanna see what you can do.”

We started a new round and he immediately began to pull off some basic combos. I made a point of trying to attack him back and even managed to get off a super simple combo of my own before he did a move that finished me off and ripped out my character's spine.

“Let's go again, I didn't do too badly!” 

He laughed softly through his nose and started a new round, which ended pretty much the same way as the first, although I did manage to pull off a more complex combo this time. 

“One more! I almost had you.”

He started a new round and this time I put slightly more effort into it. We traded blows until we were both pretty low, but he pulled off a brutal combo that sliced my character's head off.

I gave a dramatic groan and pulled off the headset. He leaned back and pulled his off before turning to me with a shit-eating grin.

Time to go in for the kill.

“Wanna make a bet?”

He gave me a confused look before shrugging.

“Alright, what'd you have in mind?”

“We'll play three rounds. Whoever wins best two out of three has to buy the other a drink.”

“One drink? Come on… that's weak. How about if I win I get to go on a date with you?”

“What do I get if I win?” 

He thought for a moment and shrugged, obviously thinking I had zero chance of winning. I hummed for a moment like I was really considering what would be an adequate prize, before giving him a seductive smile.

“How about this, if you win, we can go into that bathroom and I'll let you fuck me.”

I paused for a moment to really let that sink in before continuing.

“But if I win… you pay our full tab for the night.”

I had to give him credit for not immediately jumping on the offer, but his look of incredulity seemed a bit too forced. Likely thinking this was just an excuse for some no-strings fun without the pretense of a formal date, he quickly accepted.

As the character selection screen popped up, he spoke up beside me.

“Are you sure about this? You don't have to do anything you don't want to.”

“You haven't won yet… Let's just play it out and we'll go from there.”

He selected his normal sword wielding goon and I hovered over my same character that I had been using prior, before settling on the random icon that was just below the other at the last second before he pressed the button to proceed to the map selection. Thinking this would likely only increase his chances of winning, he didn't mention my “mistake” as he selected a somewhat more challenging map. Upon loading in, he immediately unloaded a swift combo followed up with a series of staggering blows that gave me little time to react. I managed to deflect one or two of the strikes and pull off a quick combo of my own before he finished me off with a horizontal swing that cleaved my character in half. 

We immediately went into the next round and I was delighted to see the computer had given me the same female character as before. As he stepped forward to start the sequence for what would be a devastating combo, I instead deflected his attack at the absolute last second and pulled him into a brutal combo of my own. As the sequence finished, he didn't relent for a second, immediately trying to go in for the same combo as before. This time, I let him get it off to give him hope he had a chance of winning, but as soon as his combo finished I savaged him with a flurry of small strikes and followed it up with an impressive combination that resulted in my character finishing the match by shoving her small dagger up into his character’s skull through the bottom of his jaw.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing as he let out a small grunt of irritation. We loaded into the final map, and I finally allowed him to see the full range of my skills. I deflected or dodged every blow he threw at me and landed a series of complicated combos that gave him absolutely zero chance of recovering. As the match ended he let out a forced laugh as we both pulled off our headsets. He gave me a wry grin and shook his head.

“You played me. I thought you were sandbagging when you pulled off that first combo out of nowhere… but you played the part of the noob very well. The fact you finished me off with my own character was a bit of poetic justice that really added insult to injury. Well played, madame, well played. Well… a deal's a deal, yeah?”

“I won't hold you to anything… wiping the floor with you was prize enough.”

“Oof. Brutal. Well, I won't argue since you're likely saving me a hefty bill. Thank you for handing me my own ass Miss…” 

“Allie.”

“Miss Allie. It's been an absolute pleasure. My name's Adam by the way.”

“Nice to meet you, Adam. Thank you for the chance to really let loose. I haven't played like that in awhile.”

“You know, if you are interested, I'd still love to go on that date with–” 

“I'm gay. Very gay.”

His eyes went wide and he looked back at the table where Em and the others sat before glancing back at me. I narrowed my eyes slightly and glared at him.

“And the girl you were undressing with your eyes is my fiancée.”

He held up his hands and gave me a panicked look. 

“Shit! I'm so sorry! God… I must really look like a complete ass right about now.”

He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand and wore an apologetic expression.

“Yeah. Pretty much. But the fact you're owning up to it says you're not all bad. There may be hope for you yet.”

He chuckled and sighed.

“Well, thanks for the game and not completely writing me off as a jerk. Have a good rest of the night, Allie.”

“You too, Adam.”

I returned to my table and found the other three staring at me with amused expressions. Em was about to comment when the bartender brought over a tray with four shots of something that smelled delicious. She motioned to Adam's table when we gave her a confused look and began handing out the drinks.

“Compliments of blondie over there. That was quite a match you put on. He never really stood a chance.”

I looked up at the absolutely gorgeous redhead and cocked my head to the side curiously.

“All the games can be displayed on the big screen behind the bar. I overheard a bit of your conversation, and I figured you were planning something like that, so I made it so everyone could watch as you kicked his ass. Well done.”

She turned back to the bar and walked away, but not before giving me a smile that set off my gaydar immediately. I looked back at the others who were all looking at me with knowing glances. I ignored them as I lifted the drink to my lips and took an experimental taste. It was a fruity blend of sweet and sour flavors, and had an aftertaste that reminded me of Sweetarts. After downing her own shot, Emily smirked at me and glanced back at the bartender before turning back to me.

“You should give her your number.”

I gave her an astonished look and scoffed loudly. 

“What? Seriously? Why would I do that?”

Emily rolled her eyes and gave me a knowing grin.

“She's obviously into you. We all saw the way she looked at you. She was eyefucking you more than blondie was eyefucking me earlier.”

I spluttered and downed the rest of my shot. After shaking my head I gave my fiancée a confused look.

“I can't tell if you're fucking with me, babe.”

“I'm deadly serious, Allison. She's hot. Why wouldn't you give her your number?”

I felt like I was quickly venturing into dangerous territory so I pursed my lips as I studied my fiancée for any hints that would give away what she was thinking. She arched an eyebrow before reaching into her purse and coming back out with a pen and paper. She covered it with her hand as she wrote something, before folding it and handing it to me.

“OK, princess… Without looking at it, go over there, give her this, and tell her ‘my fiancée told me to give this to you.’”

From her tone, expression, and her use of my sub title, I could tell she was being completely serious. I grabbed the small slip of paper and moved to get up, ignoring the stares I was getting from Jade and Tiffany. I walked over to the bar and angled myself so I was facing the pretty red headed bartender. She was tall, probably close to 6’. The sides and back of her head were shaved and she wore her fiery orangish-red hair in a ponytail. She had a lip piercing and a small stud on the right side of her nose. Her face was a cute heart shape, and she had an ample amount of curves that were accentuated by the tight jeans and simple scoop neck tank top she wore. She looked at me expectantly before I placed the small note on the bar and slid it towards her.

“What's–”

“My fiancée told me to give this to you.”

She narrowed her eyes slightly as she reached for the piece of paper and unfolded it. After reading it for a moment, a deep red flush settled in her cheeks and she glanced from me over to Em and the others.

“Your fiancée is that hot goth chick?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Mmk. Tell her I'm down. My shift ends in about an hour.”

My own face flushed as I considered the implications of what she was saying, and I gulped and managed to nod. After a few seconds I found my voice and was able to choke out a response.

“Sure. I will… tell her. Guess I'll see you later?”

“Looking forward to it.”

I turned stiffly back towards my table and walked back to where the others sat with faint smirks. They stared at me expectantly as I slid back into the booth. After a moment, Jade broke the silence by letting out an exasperated grunt.

“Well… what did she say?”

“Wait… you both know what the note said?”

“Of course, Em told us immediately when you were out of earshot.”

I exhaled loudly and gave my fiancée a level gaze. She wore an impatient expression and arched her eyebrow.

“Well?”

“She said she's down and her shift ends in an hour.”

“Good girl. Now then… let's go find a game we can all play, yeah?”