Chapter 16 - Players

Monster Slayer and Bunny-Bear led Akumi and Emma to a medieval great hall. There, 100 Adventurers were gathered in a circle.

'Creepy,' said Akumi.

Emma nodded. 'Watch your back.'

General Mantis, Venus, and Sheepwolf stood in front of the crowd. There was a familiar-looking goblin rogue behind them.

Akumi waved to Weasel, but he winced and hid himself in the crowd. He probably thought that she was going to eat him for abandoning her and Emma in the Tomb Dungeon, but he'd actually saved them by running away and alerting the Adventurers Guild to their plight (she'd nibble on him later).

Monster Slayer and Bunny-Bear led Akumi and Emma to the centre of the circle.

'Show no fear,' said Monster Slayer.

Bunny-Bear hugged Akumi and Emma to her fluffy chest. 'Be brave, darlin's.'

What in the world was about to happen to them?

Monster Slayer and Bunny-Bear withdrew into the crowd.

General Mantis nodded to Venus. 'Have the others brought in.'

Venus nodded and clapped the giant Venus flytrap mouth on her back.

From a giant castle door on the far side of the room, Jaguar, Astronaut, Komodo Kong, Fly, and Snake brought in two strangers in hooded robes and handcuffs.

What kind of freaks would need the Good Guys to guard them?

The Good Guys led the strangers to the centre of the circle and left them there.

General Mantis stepped forwards. 'Ladies and gentlemen, today is a momentous occasion! For the first time in 50 years, Players have been transported to our Multiverse!'

The Adventurers gasped.

Weasel popped out of the crowd. 'You what?!'

Sheepwolf grinned. 'Players! During my candidacy!'

Speechless, Monster Slayer and Bunny-Bear stared at Akumi and Emma as though they were in the presence of mythical creatures.

General Mantis raised one of his raptorial arms. 'Release the constraints!'

Fly pressed a button on his smart glove.

The strangers' handcuffs clunked to the floor. They threw off their hooded robes.

Two VRMMO world champions stood before them.

The first was a muscular black woman wearing a sports bra, boxing shorts, and boxing gloves. This was Michelle Tyson, also known as Punch Girl, the Street Brawler Online World Champion.

The second was a little Mexican girl with crazy eyes wearing a beige school uniform. This was Jane Jones, also known as Bug, the Extraterrestrial Combat Online World Champion.

Michelle stretched her arms. 'Thank god for that! I was starting to get cramps!'

Jane pointed to Akumi and Emma. 'Why do we arrive in handcuffs while they get treated like royalty?! Oh, I see how it is! The two brown girls are suspicious while the two pale girls are blameless, huh?! You're going to play it nasty like that, huh?!'

A Republican Marine Sergeant cleared his throat. 'My apologies, ma'am, but...when we found you, you were stealing all the weapons from the Bizarre Bazaar.'

Jane flung her arms out. 'I THOUGHT I PLAYING A VIDEO GAME! WHAT DID YOU EXPECT ME TO DO?! BUY THEM?!'

Michelle placed her hand on Jane's shoulder. 'Calm down, sugar.' She smiled sweetly at the Republican Marine Sergeant. 'Bug's sorry she stole the weapons, and I'm sorry I beat up so many Republican Marines defending her....though, I think we can all agree 30 one punch knockouts is very impressive.'

Akumi trembled with excitement; she and Emma weren't the only Players on Manticore!

She stepped forwards. 'So...you two came here through the Multiverse Online beta test, too?'

Michelle nodded. 'That's right, sugar. After Bug and I discovered we couldn't log out in prison, we finally realised we'd been isekai'd. Nuts, ain't it?'

'Huh,' said Emma. 'It's a good thing you two came straight to the hub area; we took a detour and almost got killed by goblins—'

Jane burst into a fit of giggles. 'You stupid—' She started rolling on the floor laughing.

Akumi raised her eyebrow at Michelle, who mouthed the word, YouChan.

Oh.

YouChan was a hybrid video platform-image board website that was widely regarded as the Cesspool of the Internet. While most of its boards were benign like Anime and Video Games, its Conspiracy Theory and Radical Politics boards where hives of scum and villainy. If memory served, Jane Jones was a twofer.

Out of nowhere, Emma pulled Jane up by her collar and slapped her across the face.

The sound echoed across the great hall.

Jane stopped laughing. She looked shocked.

Emma glared down at her. 'I don't know what your parents put up with, but you're a long way from home.'

An evil grin spread across Jane's face. She started radiating purple psionic energy. 'Please, sir! I want some more!'

This was bad.

Emma got into a Krav Maga stance. Jane got into a Lucha Libre stance. Akumi got into a karate stance behind Emma. Michelle got into a boxing stance behind Jane. All the Adventurers got in fighting stances around them.

Things were about to get crazy....

Venus cleared her throat. 'Excuse me. We're not done yet.'

Akumi blinked. 'Not done with what?'

'With bringing in the other Players.'

'Oh.... Well, how many more are there?'

'All in all...there are 100 of you.'

Akumi laughed in disbelief.

No way.