(I'm so sorry it's taken so long to update this story…it's something I'm guilty of with all my stories. I still have many ideas for what I want to include in this story with all the chapters and story arcs that it has. I hope I'll be able to update this story and my others more often…this Writer's Block has gone on way too damn long. Sorry. I hope you all enjoy the update.)
Death Fury: Thanks.
Chapter 3: A Small Celebration
(Columbus, Ohio, the next day)
Wade stood around his living room with his friends, clinking their glasses together. He smiled.
"I know most would be drinking champagne or something right now, but I hope soda's ok."
The group laughed. Zhou grinned widely.
"Did you see the looks on their faces?! We creamed them!"
He drank his soda heartily. Within moments he started coughing, to which the others chuckled. Toshiro patted his back, smiling.
"Don't drink too quickly, there's no need to impress anyone."
Zhou grumbled, pushing off his hand. Then he looked at his shirt, which was a little drenched.
"Uhhh…do you have any napkins?"
Wade chuckled and walked over to the kitchen and brought a roll of napkins.
"There you go."
"Thanks."
Zhou grumbled as he started to frantically wipe the napkins on the stain of his shirt. Toshiro smiled, shaking his head. He then turned to the others.
"An ingenious plan, having the Autobots and the Rohirrim leading our armies was a good strategy. Though the battle wasn't as long as I would've thought."
Wade chuckled.
"Well when you have guys like Optimus Prime and Théoden helping us, we've got the morale boost on our side."
Toshiro nodded.
"The way the Rohirrim and Autobots charged together to help us cut a path to the I-U was incredible. I saw the looks on our allies' faces. It really hit the point of what we worked on."
Wade grinned.
"Despite some of the issues we saw, I say that went rather well. Especially since we beat I-U despite their tricks."
"Maybe we should try to host another one soon? As those who were spawned on their side kind of didn't get the full experience that we promised. Give them a little consolation given what happened?"
"Maybe. I do think they enjoyed seeing I-U lose like that."
Zhou rushed up.
"Can I host it this time?! I'd love to have an army of the Shaolin monks, the Lin Kuei, and the Shirai Ryu from the Mortal Kombat games!"
Wade chuckled.
"Yeah, maybe we'll host another one soon. First we gotta go through all the reports and responses to this first session…which will take a while. We'll need to get Morrow to help us with that."
Zhou groaned.
"I hate work!"
Toshiro chuckled, ruffling his friend's hair. Zhou grumbled as he pushed away his hand. Toshiro and Wade chuckled.
Samantha and Helen looked over the footage of the battle from a small holographic screen. The former shook her head as she watched I-U targeting the women gamers with their weapons, some of them pointing their AI troops against them specifically. Samantha frowned.
"These jackasses ruined their first and only time as commanders of a battle in the War Games."
Helen scoffed.
"Yeah, I'm gonna be damn sure to find their accounts and lock them out of the War Games, if not the OASIS itself."
"I'm surprised you haven't already."
"Well, Wade called this and I didn't wanna be late. I can take care of it tomorrow after we go through the reports. I'll need to get as much information from the players who took part on both sides who witnessed their douchebaggery."
Samantha chuckled.
"Well, I hope so. Because from how they seemingly hacked the game, they might try to fight back."
"Oh, I'm hoping they do. It'll be more fun to crush them if they try to hack back."
"Guys."
Wade's call made Samantha and Helen turn towards him, Toshiro, and Zhou.
"Everything alright."
"Just going over some footage, Z."
Wade sighed as he looked from Helen to the screen after walking over to them, Toshiro and Zhou following him. He watched the footage that his girlfriend and his best friend had been watching. A frown appeared on his face as he shook his head.
"I-U…bunch of dicks. They remind me of Rick."
Toshiro shook his head at the sight of their earlier opponents in the first War Games.
"They have no sense of honor."
Helen scoffed.
"That's one way of putting it."
Wade gently took hold of the device and placed it down on the counter in front of them. He turned to Samantha.
"We will make this right…but we can't just focus on what happens in the OASIS all the time. We decided that we wanted people to live in the real world as much as we can. We can't let a bunch of jerks dictate how we live and what we enjoy."
"I know."
Wade smiled, gently holding one of her arms.
"Alright, come on, let's get back to the party."
They all grinned and went back to chatting and laughing. Wade poured them more soda, smiling the whole time.
"It's good to have some fun here in the real world. I never thought I'd get to this…without winning Halliday's contest anyway."
Helen gently punched his shoulder, grinning.
"Hey, we're here too, Z."
Wade chuckled.
"All of us here. We made it. Now we're guiding the OASIS and its community in a better way, both in and out of the game."
The group cheered as they raised their glasses. After all they'd been through, they looked forward to the future of their lives and what they'd create along the way for people to enjoy the OASIS and the real world.
To be continued…
(It's been too long since I'd updated this story…and other stories. I'm hoping I can do more with them and this story more often. I still have several ideas of what I want to include in this story.)