AnimeCon Harem 14: Finale pt 1

/// Maybe don't even start reading this one until the following few sections are posted up over the course of the last days of July. These may be frustrating to read on their own now, when the conclusion isn't available yet. You've been warned!

   She just—Kelly just KNEW something, knew I needed to be somewhere, Brian tried to collect his thoughts as he ran. Somewhere specific, apparently, or like a specific time and place, if I have to hurry like this.

   People passed by him in a blur as he moved, barreling through the convention lobby at full tilt towards the entrance doors. There was something liberating about booking it like this through areas he was normally only familiar with in the context of walking. Traveling at speed made all the sights he recognized so thoroughly from this weekend flash by him in quick succession, like a life flashing before his eyes.

   Just behind where the structure of the escalators met the ground floor was where he’d met Kelly for the first time—it was the area nearest the restrooms on this side of the con, and a convenient place to stand out of the way of crowds of people. Over there on the opposite side was the hallway where Stephanie had collided with him, then after introducing themselves to one another he led her down across the concourse here to that stupidly overpriced cafe. Here in front of him now were the rows of double-doors exiting the pavilion. All of the girls—his girls had stood up for him here when Chloe exploded at him.

   Brian darted around a couple passing through the doors and then he was outside, still moving at a solid clip as he banked left and ran towards where the convention center gave way to the adjacent city block. He was a runner—this sort of distance was nothing to him and he wasn’t out of breath. All the same he was feeling unusual aches and soreness all over, like he could use a ton more stretching out to limber his muscles again. His arms and shoulders felt tight when he moved them from the battering he’d taken earlier, his abs were honestly feeling a little hollow from all the… extracurricular activity they’d been up to.

   But, I’m fine. Fine for—getting to wherever this is, Brian told himself. She didn’t say what to expect, or what I need to actually DO when I get there. Maybe she didn’t even know?

   Magic was at play, here. Kelly just magically all of the sudden knew something, and then sent him towards someplace, to do something. He trusted her, and to his surprise he didn’t even feel all that skeptical about all of this like he imagined he would. The whole weekend long Stephanie seemed to be reading in on more than what was just spoken or apparent. In more than a insight sort of way, in more of an maybe she’s just really intuitive sort of way. Sometimes it was like Stephanie was secretly getting passed notes on his internal monologue, like she was reacting to things he felt on a deep level but never allowed to surface in his expression or the things he said.

   So, Kelly just KNOWING things isn’t all that weird to me, now, Brian reasoned. Although still kinda weird how NOT WEIRD it is, like how easy it is for me to just accept it and run with it.

   He’d been given some kind of vaguely defined mission, and he did trust Kelly, so he was just gonna go with it. Brian wasn’t annoyed that the amazing sex he’d just been getting into had been so suddenly interrupted, but he was definitely… concerned. From what little he understood about whatever mystical stuff was going on between him and the girls that had color appearing in their hair... a lot of it, hell maybe all of it was fueled by intimacy. Attraction, and that certain kind of metaphysical bit of yourself you invest in each other when you’re moved to express your feelings into each other.

   That… I don’t know what to call it, that CONNECTION is special, really special, and I don’t want to jeopardize or uh, TRIVIALIZE this amazing thing we feel for each other, if it’s gonna always get interrupted or sidelined by—I don’t know. The actual magic stuff? The stuff that’s more like powers. The powers stuff and being able to do MAGIC is like everyone’s secret fantasy, but… man.

   Feeling that deeper connection with someone, feeling like I’ve found SOULMATES. Soulmates, PLURAL, even. That transcends all that guilty pleasure fantasy bullshit. By a longshot. I don’t care if we even get to where we can fly or throw fireballs or transform or anything like that, I wouldn’t trade any of that for this special thing we have with each other. I’m—yeah, I’m in love. Just completely fucking in love. If Kelly told me to trust her and jump off a cliff, I’d be in the air without a second thought. Maybe I already am.

   The access point alleyway was just up ahead.

   Brian remembered it as a shortcut they’d taken from their very first AnimeCon trip, years back. They hadn’t managed to get a closer hotel and their group had to hike seven blocks across the city to even get to the convention center. Police sirens were audible in the distance, and though Brian was paying careful attention to his surroundings as he ran, looking for clues as to what was going on—but he wasn’t alert.

   Stephanie’s description of the dangerous situation Emily and Rebecca had rescued her from had been so brief that Brian never connected it to this specific alleyway. Her words had been that some guys were trying to pull her into another building—or maybe she’d simply said they’d tried to pull her into doorway, even looking back Brian wasn’t clear on it—and in any case, Brian never pictured this specific access point area or associated it with her story.

   Because of that, after he rounded the corner and hurried on down the narrow lane Brian was completely unprepared for the scene he stumbled upon. Just past the nearest dumpster where piles of discarded pallets formed an untidy heap, a skeezy looking guy with a greasy face was caught with his pants down and a stubby erection out in the air. Just past him, there was a tangle of limbs just visible beyond the hulking figure of a big dude in a jersey, and as Brian’s jog lurched to a surprised stop it took his eyes a moment to resolve what he was seeing.

   Jesus Christ, Brian blanched.

   One of the pairs of legs he saw was that of a young woman’s, long and slender and led up to pale buttocks and bare pussy, while sitting atop the girl’s calves—pinning them, really—a third guy was also nude from the waist down and trying to maneuver his dick into the girl. Brian couldn’t see her upper body with the giant guy crammed in so close to them, and wasn’t able to recognize her, but after a horrifying second of seeing the situation he realized the girl was not bucking in a sexual way, that this was not impromptu public sex he’d run into.

   Muffled cries revealed the girl was rearing and trying to kick off the guy from sticking himself into her. The man in the sports jersey was holding her against the wall—this was a fucking rape. Brian’s blood ran cold in an instant and he burst back into motion. He had to do something. He had to do something. His shoes crunched against errant bits of gravel and forgotten splinters of wood from pallets as he built speed back up—

   “Hey fuck off and—”

   The first guy had been standing a bit farther back from the press of bodies by the wall, and Brian shoved the would-be-rapist with a running lunge just as the unfortunate soul stepped over to intercept him. The shithead was thrown back, butt ass naked, into the pile of pallets, and Brian registered the crunch of a board breaking and the hollow clatter of the stack shifting over before he had moved past and had no more attention to spare in that direction.

   “Stophptitph! STOPPPHTITT!” A nearly incoherent voice shrieked out.

   “Fuck, man—!” The big guy’s voice was a deep rumble, and he stood from his crouch, bracing against the wall as he reached out with one arm to stave off Brian.

   One giant hand smashed into Brian’s shoulder hard enough to twist his entire body off-balance. Brian had been rushing in to stop the rapist with his pants down before that psycho actually managed to penetrate the poor girl here, but the suddenly thrust arm turned his attempted tackle into a nasty fall. He slammed into them but barely dislodged the rapist's hold on the girl. For a brief instant as the big jersey guy reacted—he was strong and apt enough that Brian realized he was probably an actual football player and not simply some heavyset fan wearing a jersey—Brian was able to see the girl was Chloe, of all people, eyes absolutely wild with terror and the entire lower half of her face smeared in blood. Then the man in the jersey grabbed Brian by the arm and flung him away, the alleyway careened around him and the back of his head smashed into the pavement a second before he realized he’d been sent sprawling.

   The pain was severe, but he didn’t have time to be hurt—sirens were louder now, not quite drowned out by Chloe’s shrill scream, and Brian didn’t have time to think, either—

   Brian was already scrambling back to his feet when the guy in the jersey who’d been holding Chloe’s head against the brick wall shoved off of her and bull-rushed Brian back to the ground. The rapist with his pants down had a hand against the brick for balance but was still hunched over her. One of Chloe leg’s was free and she was kicking. The body weight of the big guy was trying to drop on Brian and he knew that would be bad, that he would be completely unable to do anything if he was pinned by a man that out-massed him. He fought for leverage, was smashed back against the asphalt but with an elbow up at least, then with one arm failing to push the guy off of him he tried to twist out from beneath the—

   The alleyway went blank as Brian’s consciousness skipped out for a second, then stuttered back in around him and everything began to ring in a blur—

   Brian leapt to his feet—or tried to, everything was spinning and he got as far up as his hands and one knee, and the first guy—greasy face—who he’d tossed into the pallets earlier kicked him again, this time a sneaker mashing off his shoulder and clipping the side of his head.

   Fuck, that first one before was a kick RIGHT to the side of the head—

   He managed the rest of the way to his feet but then stumbled sideways as greasy face with pants undone but most of the way up crashed into him, kicking and pushing. The confines of the alleyway were loud but Brian couldn’t hear what was going on, big guy with the jersey was already getting back up to his feet, and Brian knew he was confucked. Cussed. Concussed. Fucking concussed.

   He hadn’t been anything remotely resembling a real fight in years and years, greasy face was had dropped into a lower stance for better balance, Brian couldn’t get his balance with everything spinning, the guy was grappling at his forearms as they tried to shove and hit each other, there was no time to think, Chloe had almost crawled on her hands and knees away from the third guy, but he still had a hand gripped tight to the remains of a torn blouse that she was still trapped in, and—

   “BrriiaaAAAANNNN!” Chloe’s scream was hoarse and—

   Brian was thrown off his feet almost before he realized what was going on, and then his head rocked back and his entire spine arched with the force of being kicked in the face so hard. He stopped trying to see, didn’t think he could crack open his eyes right now, put his arms up to protect his head, Chloe’s scream and the sirens closing in were deafening, another shoe sailed into his stomach with full power, folding his body around it as Brian tried to curl up. Another kick rammed in, then another, Brian swallowed blood and what may have been a tooth, then spat and sputtered as he tried to breathe—he needed to breathe—but his entire chest felt like its capacity for drawing in air was denied—another kick, this time the toe of someone’s shoe smashed between his forearms and drove into his face again, and then—

   Nothing.

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