Manhunt part 1

	I always get the shakes before a run. Everyone does. Winning means a fat stack of reward money. Losing tends to mean getting hitched to whoever catches you. Most join in for the thrill of the chase, or the rush of avoiding capture. I'm in it for the money. Ever since this world was flooded with monsters wearing human faces, there have been quite a few changes to how the world turns.

	Most of these creatures are overtaken by an intense desire for companionship at the age of maturity. Some would take potential mates by force. Laws were set into place that prosecute those charged with taking said mates against their will. It wasn't long before someone found a way to profit from this irresistible urge in our new citizenry.

	Enter the Manhunt. A game of cat and mouse that pits humans like myself against the physically superior beast-folk from another world. Taking part means waiving all protections for the duration of the event.

	I've survived two runs uncaptured. Made my manager a lot of money. I still need at least three more successful runs before my debts are paid. My manager is a Danuki. She also happens to be my sister-in-law. She bailed my brothers and sisters out of a rough situation a few years back. I was the oldest, 21 at the time.

	After marrying into the family she consolidated all debt and put it on me. I agreed of course, wanted to save my family from the trouble that would cause. I don't resent her for it. We owed some pretty bad people. She said this would be a fast way to pay everything back without a visit from her business partners.

	She is actually watching me pace back and forth now, eventually speaking up with her chipper attitude, "C'mon, you have this in the bag. We've trained for this."

	True, I spent the two years getting into shape. Helps to have a personal trainer who happens to be an enthusiastic Oni. Along with the more... esoteric methods of preparation. Being jabbed with needles of Manticore venom and a variety of other monstrous secretions to build up a tolerance. Not sure if it was actually effective though. Not even sure if that was legal.

	Once the games finally cut through the red tape and opened, I was ready. The runs take place on an artificial island some Lich conjured up, complete with empty factories and storage facilities to give the human contestants a fighting chance. Some people manage to hide until the clock runs out, some run the entire time, and one crazy bastard actually fought until the other men were subdued.

	Rules are simple. Five humans, five monsters. Humans get a two minute head start. After two minutes elapse, the monsters are released. Cue the thirty minute timer. Run out the clock, or be the last man standing.  Anything goes, but lethal force is strictly forbidden. There are a variety of tools stashed around the faux factories, usually things like grapnels and rope, containers of oil, and one time I lucked into a stun-gun.

	Tonight's match is a special event. A full moon run. The women tend to get much more aggresive during this time. Unlike most people, I don't spend my prep time chatting or squeezing into a ridiculous costume. I'm pretty content with my quiet time.

	"Hello, Steven! You there?" My manager snaps me out of the reverie. "Don't zone out like that. You ready for your interview?"

	"Not yet Suki. Need to get ready."

	I head over to a sink and pull out my grooming kit. Gotta trim the beard, fix the ragged black bush on my head, and trim my nails. The fans love a cleaned up individual. Then again, it can occasionally make you a bigger target.

	As I work I can hear Satsuki chattering away to her partners on the phone, likely placing bets with each other. Everyone loves a good gamble. Seems she's not betting on me this time. Odd, wonder what kind of line-up we have tonight.

	After I finish, Satsuki leads me out of the sterile ready room and out to the starting line. A perky brunette rushes over to me with a microphone and starts her questioning.

	"Steven Gallagher, you have had two runs uncaptured, do you think your luck will hold out tonight?"

	It's a tough "sport" but damned if people don't eat it up.

	I put on a winning smile and give the viewers a thumbs up, "Not a doubt in my mind."

	"I see you are wearing khakis and a t-shirt, no costumes or sponsors?"

	"Don't feel the need for all that. I do have a sponsor though." I pull out a bandanna with a leaf emblazoned on a black background. "New Leaf Finances. When you find yourself going over budget, try turning over a New Leaf!" I wink at the camera, and see Satsuki nodding in approval out of the corner of my eye.

	The pre-game bell tolls.

	I head to the starting line. I can see my fellow runners standing around. The starting zone is a parking lot with a loading dock, boxed in on two sides by buildings, leaving a single direction to run. In the loading dock is the competition. They are in cages, covered up by black cloth to prevent early strategizing. I'll get a few moments to see them before the two minute head-start.

	Tonight's runners consist of a menagerie of oddballs. A man in a luchadore outfit covered in sponsorship's from adult channels that air the Manhunt, A scrawny young man in a tuxedo, A guy wearing a jumpsuit with sports-car endorsements, and a nerdy fat dude who keeps hiking his blue jeans up. Pretty sure he's going down first.

	I head over to the cages and wait for the reveal so I can plan out how to play this. Luchadore keeps posing for the cameras that dot the arena, sweat glistening already in the floodlights. Jumpsuit is stretching. Tuxedo is smoking a cigarette, not smart. Fatty seems to be interested in the camera drones flitting about.

	The loudspeakers begin blaring as a masculine voice shouts, "You will have a few moments to judge the competition."

	The others gather with me. Seconds later, the dark shroud is pulled away revealing five large cages, each occupied by a monster. Fatty suddenly seems scared and backs off. The rest simply stare for a moment and move as far away from the cages as possible.

	First cage has a Wurm coiled up and gripping the bars of the cage, her dull green scales and horns contrasting with her smooth pale skin. Her hair is long and firey red. She says nothing, but drools a bit. Those amber eyes flick between the contestants, settling on fatty. She mutters to herself in a lustful voice, "Squishy." and begins breathing heavily. Looks like I may not need to worry about her.

	Second cage houses a Jinko, sitting cross legged with her eyes closed. auburn hair reflects the light, while her tanned skin seems flushed. Especially her face. This could be bad. May not be able to outrun her. Maybe I'll have a bit of luck and she will search the wrong area. Evading detection is my best course of action.

	Third cage has a Holstaur peeking out. Odd choice for a contestant, they are normally docile. She is wearing a set of overalls, and not much else. Her dull brown eyes fixate on me as she leans into the cage and whispers, "Hey, come here!" As I step closer she thrusts her arm out, grabbing at me. She has a mad look to her. Full moon must be doing its job. But I think I can outrun her. She seems sad when I move on to the next cage.

	Fourth cage. Oh shit. Hellhound. She is rattling the cage as I approach. Her eyes blaze with hell-fire, hair and skin soaked with sweat as she exerts herself. She is really wound up and seems to be wearing nothing but a black bikini for now. Maybe for improved mobility? She sees me staring, and a wide grin stretches on her face.

	"Like what you see?" She asks, lewdly grinding against the bars.

	Damn it boner, not now. I hate running with an erection. I decide to mess with her a bit. I slowly remove my shirt, hoping to fluster her, "Not sure yet, how about you?" I toss the shirt into the cage.

	It works, she buries her face in it... Crap. That smile would put a Cheshire to shame, "Got your scent now."

	Well, that plan completely backfired. Need to disguise my scent now, maybe I'll find something in the arena. "Be a good girl and take care of my shirt." Last ditch effort to get into her head.

	All she does is stare daggers at me. "I am going to fuck that smirk right off your face." she spits.

	Ok. Major backfire. All I did was ensure that I will be tracked.

	Tuxedo is in front of the fifth cage, holding some scrap of red cloth in his hand and laughing at the occupant. An Ushi-Oni. Tux is taunting her, standing right outside her reach. The cage rattles and groans, beginning to warp under the strain as she rams it trying to grab him. Oh, the cloth in his hand is one of those sealing talismans. I back away slowly.
	The PA chimes, "Two minute head start begins!"

	I take off running. I've made it through two runs untouched. What is one more?

	The others join me as we rush  down the corridor left to us, and we reach a fork. Luchadore takes this time to trip Fatty and heads left. Not against the rules, but still a dick move. Jumpsuit joins him while Tuxedo doubles back to help Fatty. Good man. But I take off to the right.

	"One minute until release!"

	Shit, nowhere near enough distance.

	As I make a break through what seems to be a cannery, I spy a backpack. In a fluid motion I slide snag the pack and search for the upper level stairs. After I find them and begin running up I hear the PA again.

	"LET THE MANHUNT BEGIN!"

	Thirty minutes. Just have to make it thirty minutes. Yes! Rooftop access. Bursting through, I quietly shut the door. Digging through the pack I find a jar of Vaseline, a pair of binoculars, and smoke grenade.

	I scan the area with the binoculars, keeping myself low.

	A scream rings out in the night air. I search for the source, and find Tuxedo running from a duo of Ushi-Oni and Jinko. As they close in the both start tugging on him. The two begin shredding his outfit, only to start fighting with each other over who gets him. He takes the moment to limp away as they are occupied.

	The door behind me opens. Whipping around I see Fatty. He is huffing and wheezing as he jogs over to me by the edge of the building.
	I angrily hiss at him, "What the hell are you doing? This is my spot!"

	He stammers a bit, "I- I- I Just thought about safety in numbers man. I can't run for shit, I'm only here because I thought I could meet a nice Kitsune or something." He seems scared.

	I whip out the Vaseline and start greasing myself up.

	Fatty just stares and asks, "What are you doing?"

	"Can't catch me easily if you can't get a grip." I toss the empty container aside. Hopefully this will help with the scent. "Good luck."

	Before he has a chance to respond, I jump to a light pole and slide down. As soon as I hit the ground I'm off. Leaving the cannery behind, I take flight down an alleyway. The building layouts are nonsensical. I turn left and right, but the alleys seem to be constructed like a maze here. I'm pretty sure some of these buildings don't even have entrances...

	Rounding another corner I find the way blocked off by the Wurm. She slithers slowly towards me. "Dick now." Pretty straight-forward. In a flash , she coils around me. "Dick.Now."

	As she constricts and fumbles with my pants, I shout, " I can tell you where Squishy is!"

	She stops. "Where? I like 'em squishy." She loosens up.

	"On the rooftop of that way!"

	"Lead." She picks me up, squeezing me tight to her as she coils up and launches herself onto the rooftop like a spring. The Wurm nearly loses her grip due to the grease, but manages to hang on.

	I point to the building, and the poor guy is still up there.

	The Wurm drops me and heads to the cannery with haste. Looks like preference still matters somewhat during the full moon.

	I am a terrible person.

	Oh well, one step closer to being the last man standing.

	The buildings here are closer together, so I start leaping from roof to roof. After several minutes pass, I run out of rooftop. Oh well, back to the streets. I feel uneasy as I slide down one of the floodlights. Something stinks.

	Brimstone.

	I can feel the temperature rising behind me.

	My legs start pumping on their own. I can hear her panting and giving chase.
A three way intersection comes into view, and I snag the smoke grenade and pitch it ahead. Not sure how much it will help, but I have to try. The grenade pops and hisses as thick white smoke fills the area. As I enter the cloud I bolt right. It must have been fifteen or twenty minutes by now. Who else is active? Tuxedo and Fatty are goners for sure, but what about Luchadore and Jumpsuit?

	There is a loud boom as all the lights go out, dropping the arena into darkness. Someone must have knocked out the power. The drones are equipped with night-vision, so at least the viewers will know whats happening.

	Unable to see anything, I look back to the intersection as I run.

	Those burning eyes are still there.

	And they are closing in.

	I run through the inky black arena. My way lit only by the moon above. I can hear the clicking of the Hellhound's claws on the pavement as she lopes after me. Those eyes... So full of lust and determination. I may not get away this time.

	My best bet is to find one of the items strewn about and improvise. But not a single object comes into sight. Other runners must have been through here and picked the area clean. Just my luck.

	Juking left at a fork I can see a dead end. Shit. Time for a gamble.

	The Hellhound approaches slowly, little bikini long since stripped away. In the moonlight I can see the sweat glistening and steaming on her body. Small puffs of condensation escape her full lips as she begins to grin wickedly in the cool night air. I run out of room to back up, bumping into the wall that seals off the path. If I wait for the right moment, maybe I can bolt around her.

	She presses against me, body like a furnace. Leaning in she whispers, "Caught you." and runs her tongue across my neck. She makes a face, "Why are you greasy?"

	I chuckle nervously. "It was supposed to make me harder to catch..."

	"Didn't work well did it?"

	"Nope."

	She shrugs, oh well. Time to claim my prize." She leans down and unbuttons my shorts.

	My chance has arrived.

	With as much strength as I can muster, I place my hands on her shoulders and push down. As I'm airborne my feet find purchase on the wall. I kick away as hard as I can. I just vaulted over a Hellhound. The moment my feet touch the ground I'm running. I can hear a scream of rage and frustration as the chase is renewed.

	The PA system echos through the arena, "The Hunt is over!"

	I stop running, bewildered. Before I can pump my fist in victory, something heavy tackles me from behind. The Hellhound is on me, tearing off my shorts with her claws. I get flipped over like a rag-doll, and those burning eyes lock with mine. She shouts, "I will not be denied!"

	I try to shove her off, but she just grabs my hands and pushes me down as I try to explain. "It's over! You lost, I won! Knock it off!"

	In one smooth motion my boxers are ripped away. The naked Hellhound is straddling me, tugging at my dick. "We'll just call it overtime!" After she gets me standing at full attention, she hovers over my groin, womanhood absolutely dripping. She slams herself downward.

	There is a cracking noise and my stomach begins to churn. I'm in the infirmary, and a man tosses me a change of clothes. This guy is probably middle-aged. He's got a lab-coat on and has a badge on his chest identifying him as a mage. He laughs, and then he says, "That was awfully close."

	He must have teleported me out of the arena. "Thanks." I mutter as I get dressed. "Way too close."

	After a medical examination I get released. Have an interview with the same brunette asking if I was planning on running again. I nod and pose for the camera, but I really just want to rest back home.

	Once I do make it back to my simple little apartment I plop down on the couch and flip through my recordings. After selecting today's Manhunt, I bury myself in a blanket and begin watching. I like to know how close I came to being caught, and what exactly did the other players in to avoid those sorts of slip-ups in the future.

	The commentary is a comedic shower of banter between a Kobold and her Cheshire partner. It gets dry at times, but it's easy to ignore. What I want to see is what caused the other runners to lose.

	First elimination was Tuxedo. The poor guy limped off while the Ushi-Oni and the Jinko were duking it out. Didn't save him when the Ushi broke away from the fight and gave chase with the Jinko in hot pursuit. Within seconds she scooped him up and scuttled across the walls with him in tow before settling on a rooftop. Tux tried to shove the sealing talisman back into place, but was overpowered and violated on the roof. The Jinko wasted no time cutting her losses and running elsewhere. Cue crushed pelvis jokes from the commentary.

	I remember Tux taunting the Ushi back during the reveal. I guess he got what was coming to him. Granted, I tried taunting as well, but I got away from my pursuer. I make a note to avoid taunts in the future. They don't seem to have any other tangible benefits.

	Next up was Fatty. A pang of guilt washed over me as I watched the Wurm rear up behind him before knocking him down. Unlike the vicious takedown Tuxedo suffered, the Wurm os very gentle. She pokes, prods, and nibbles on his ample stomach for a bit. With a delicate touch unexpected from one of her kind, she peels him out of his clothes and takes him gently. The commentators remark on how sweet the whole thing is as he gives in. The Cheshire hits a button and a canned "Awww" sound clip plays. At least he didn't get hurt by my betrayal.

	Jumpsuit managed to avoid any confrontations until the fifteen minute mark. The Jinko spots him and gives chase. She tackles him to the ground and starts clawing at his suit, tearing through  it with ease. She stops for a moment as he begins to beg her to let him go. He goes on about how he just wants to make a name for himself. The announcers poke fun at his indignation. The Jinko seems be listening. As the camera zooms in, it's clear that she is becoming impatient as her breathing grows heavier and her skin flushed. Eventually she can't hold back and silences him with her lips.

	The last sequence bounces between Luchadore and myself as we fend off our aggressors after the halfway point. There I am, running wildly. In a short time it will display my wild trip with the Hellhound.

	Credit for the most interesting showdown goes to Luchadore and the Holstaur. When she encounters him, he starts posing and flexing. As he shows off, she drops into a grapplers stance. The two circle for a moment before rushing in at the same time.

	Commentary shifts to a play by play as the two wrestle.They seem evenly matched, alternating between who is in control. Luchadore eventually overpowers her, sending the Holstaurus to her knees. When he moves to pin her a smile flashes across her face. She launches herself into his midsection and yanks him around before locking him in a Full Nelson. His reaction is one of bewilderment, which turns to panic as she loosens her grip to tear away his mask.

	She triumphantly brandishes his mask at the cameras. Luchadore slumps to his knees in defeat. The Holstaur helps him to his feet and hugs him, patting his head and telling him he did a good job. The two stare at each other for a moment. The pair embrace, lips locking, and begin groping each other for a few minutes.

	The camera cuts back to my chase. No wonder the game was so close. Those two decided to play grabass for several minutes while I was on the run. Once they starting undressing one another, Luchador was declared eliminated. It cuts back once more as the Hellhound slams her hips down. In a flash of blue light I disappear. The Hellhound roars in impotent fury.

	The Kobold gets upset, saying that it was unfair to teleport me out. Cheshire on the other hand, states that after one person was left standing that was it. All protections were restored. This doesn't stop her from making a "Clam-Jam" joke.

	That is enough for tonight. I need to sleep. Tomorrow I would be chatting with my manager about my winnings and what I still owed. The next run will be here before I know it. I just hope my luck holds out.