“Yeah,” said the other. “You said the loser has to pay the winner a sick compliment.”
“Oh, yes, yes, that is correct,” Samantha said. “Well?”
“Uh,” the first said. “You’re not as psychotic as I first thought you were.”
“Yeah, you smell good, too. If you was a strawberry, I’d nibble you right up,” the second said.
Samantha made a little grunt. “There’s a difference between complimenting and shameless flirting, but I suppose it will do.” She turned to Splash Zone. “And you?”
“I didn’t make a bet,” he said, crossing his arms.
“Nor did I,” said Doctor Bones.
“Well, I didn’t promise not to kill your mothers, either, then,” Samantha said.
“Samantha,” I warned, “no threatening.”
Behind me, a new race started with two more sluggalos and Gluteus Maxx playing. The fuzzy Gluteus was playing Luigi, and he was pretty good.
“Yo, you gonna give it a go?” one of the sluggalos asked Imani. He’d climbed up the side of her leg and made it all the way to her waist. This one had a bunch of little daggers sticking out of his eyestalks.
“No,” she said, flicking the slug off. “I played enough against my brothers back home.”
“Brothers?” Donut asked. “How many do you have?”
We all cringed a little at Donut’s use of the present tense. I remembered that moment when I was briefly connected with Imani’s mind. I remembered how invasive it’d felt that I could see her thoughts. But I also remembered that deep sadness she had when it came to her own family.
“Good question,” she said to Donut. “But full siblings, I had two. I was the youngest and only girl.”
“I have multiple older brothers, too,” Donut said. “All were scattered all over the place. The Queen Anne Cattery sure loved selling off the boys to other families. Miss Beatrice’s motheralways said boys were meant to be used as a means to an end and never as the end, whatever that means. I had this one brother Charleston Chew, who got sent all the way to Australia, and the people who bought him used a private jet to?—”
“Carl,” Imani said, interrupting, “you should open your boxes. We don’t want Donut’s blood bar to drain too much. You know what? I think I will play a round or two before I go back. Guys, move aside. We gotta unlock Funky Kong if you want to beat Samantha.” She moved to the group while the sluggalos started chanting her name.
Donut: DID I SAY SOMETHING TO MAKE IMANI MAD AT ME? I DIDN’T MEAN TO.
I reached over and gave Donut a pat.
Carl: No, it’s okay. I don’t think she likes talking about her family. That’s all.
Donut: I WONDER WHY.
Carl: Sometimes we don’t need to know someone’s full life story to understand them. With her, I think it’s something she’d rather leave buried. I don’t think she wants to be defined by her past.
I turned my attention to my achievements and boxes. I was a little hesitant to open this batch because of the whole kangaroo incident, but Imani was right. We didn’t have much time. As expected, I received a few disturbing ones, including three in a row that were especially unhinged.
New Achievement! Weaseler!
You’ve donned the corpse of an enemy in an attempt to fool another creature! And then you ENTERED that creature.
Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. It’s like transitory vore. This is fuckingdelectable.
Don’t get me wrong. The main show is on pause because of that suit you’re wearing. But it’s okayto order the hamburger every now and then at the Chinese place.
Reward:Temporary classes while wearing corpse suits have been unlocked! You will now receive benefits and buffs associated with the suit you are wearing. These skills will go away once the suit is removed.
Current temporary class: Fursuiter.
This next one, I assumed, was for going into the pouch. The AI didn’t actually say anything other than the name of the achievement, the “reward,” and a few random words. I sighed.