Black Lotus

Hello, dear reader. Here is my entry for the 2021 2021 Literotica Geek Pride Story Event. Even though I love romance and erotica, I am a thorough nerd as well, so this lets me blend two of my favorite things. I am also going to say that this is inspired by some real-life events that I might have witnessed or heard about, in places I may or may not have visited. If these events did sort of happen, I was not a participant but merely a spectator.

I also extend thanks to the numerous special friends who beta/proofread. You wonderful folks all know who you are! Any remaining errors are a result of me tinkering after their edits.

I present my two normal caveats: 1) I welcome all feedback and comments—good, bad, or ugly—either with comments here or through the feedback tab, and 2) I apologize in advance for typos and such. Even as a geek, I am a terrible copy editor.

#

Danny Carmichael stepped out of the cab of the truck and stretched his arms. Even though it was only the middle of February, the late-morning air was cool and comfortable rather than cold. The thought made him smile; Tucson winters were mild. He knew he'd be missing the temperate days by May, when the heat could cook an egg on the hood of his vehicle.

He gazed at the small storefront wedged in the aging strip mall. The commercial strip around Broadway and Country Club wasn't so much old as venerable, and it showed. Sun-beaten buildings with peeling paint and cracked parking lots lined the boulevard. Aged meant cheap, though, which is probably why the Wizard's Tower rented the space.

Wizard's was Danny's go-to store for comics and games the whole time he'd grown up in Tucson. He had been pleased the previous week to see not much had changed. The space once given over to videos had shrunk and the miniatures and gaming section had grown—but beyond that, it was much the same as he remembered from six years earlier. Phil, the aging hippie with his two-foot-long hair in a ponytail, who looked over his eyeglasses, still ran the place. He'd been happy to see Danny, and they had killed an afternoon talking about comics, movies, and other stuff.

He shook his head and glanced at his watch. Ten thirty-eight. Enough reminiscing. Time to get my game face on.

Danny reached across the console and grabbed his backpack, locked the truck, and headed for the door.

The quick beep of a car horn caught his attention. An old Buick Regal with tinted windows glided into the parking lot. Danny grinned.

The car pulled to a stop and a man about his age popped out of the driver's side. Unlike Danny's lanky athleticism, the new arrival was built like a fire hydrant: short and stocky. Despite that, muscles rippled beneath his button-down shirt. A wide smile split his olive skin. "Hey, pendejo. Ready to get your ass kicked?"

Danny smirked and stepped forward. "Not on your best day, puta." He extended his hand. The other man smiled and clasped it. The two men slapped each other's shoulders. Danny added, "How you been, Raul?"

"Doing great, man."

Danny couldn't keep the smile off his face. He and Raul Navarro had known each other since elementary school. They'd actually met each other in a fight after a playground collision. Before too many punches were thrown, they were hauled into the office by the teacher—in a day when a teacher dragging two squalling by the arms children to the office wasn't frowned on. The next day, Raul had acted like nothing had happened and eventually the two became friends. Then best friends. Raul admitted to Danny years later that he'd been told the gringos were all assholes who hated his kind but he'd finally figured out that wasn't true. A handful of students harassed Danny for running with the Mexican crowd but Danny never felt out of place or awkward. Some of the Mexican-Americans were a little leery of the white boy hanging out with them, but Raul told Danny to ignore them and that if they ever started some shit, Raul would have his back. He'd even said, "There are assholes in every race, Dan."

He'd kept in touch with Raul all through his time in the Army and his buddy was excited to know Danny was coming back to Tucson after six years. Raul had been out of town when Danny arrived the previous Wednesday and they'd arranged to play in the weekly tournament together.

Danny pointed to the car. "I see the Regal's still holding up. Can't believe you're still driving this ghetto sled."

Raul laughed. "Fuck you, man. You love this old gal as much as me. How many times you get lucky in this back seat?"

"Too many." Danny glanced at the car and noted someone sitting inside. "You bring a girl with you?"

His friend snorted. "No, that's just Tia. She plays too and she bugged me until I said she could come."

"Little Tia?" Danny laughed. "God, I haven't seen her since I left."

"She's just as annoying as she ever was." He turned and said, "C'mon, Tia. We have to get registered."

The passenger side opened and Raul's little sister stepped out. Danny's mouth fell open.

He hadn't seen Tianna—or Tia, as she went by—since he'd left six years ago to join the Army. She had been thirteen at the time and nothing but a skinny rail with acne and braces and topped by a mop of unruly black curls. She had always tried to hang around with Danny and Raul and had always gotten mad when they went off to do stuff without her. In his memories, Danny had always thought of her fondly as his best friend's geeky little sister.

The nineteen-year-old woman who stepped out in no way resembled the kid he remembered. Tia towered over her brother, standing just two inches shorter than Danny's six feet. Her acne was gone, replaced by unblemished khaki-colored skin. The hair was as thick and curly as ever but now tumbled halfway down her back and glowed with a luxurious shine. She wore a loose tee-shirt depicting a Tardis from Doctor Who and a pair of tight jeans that highlighted her slim hips and legs. She gazed at Danny. "Hey, hermano. How's it hanging?"

Danny sputtered. "Oh ... hey, Tia."

She grinned, revealing a mouth full of pearly teeth. No braces, he thought. She said, "You used to call me hermana. Your sister, remember?"

"Uh ..."

Tia laughed. It wasn't the squeaking laugh of a child or the high-pitched giggle of a vapid cheerleader but the full-throated laugh of a mature woman. "Yeah, so come give your sister a hug."

Danny blushed but stepped into her arms. She grabbed him in a stronger grip than he expected and pulled him tight. Her breasts pressed against him and the heat from her body stirred a reaction he knew he shouldn't have. He patted her shoulders and pulled away. Danny thought he caught a twinkle in her eye but it went away before he was sure. He said, "So, did you come down here to watch us?"

She snorted. She hefted her own tote. "In your dreams, ese. I came to play."

"I shouldn't be surprised." Raul and Danny had always been big into comics and science-fiction, and as much as Tia stuck with them, it had rubbed off until she was as much into the nerd culture as they were. "You think you can compete?"

"Damn right."

"If you two idiots are finished," Raul said with a growl, "we're down to twelve minutes to register."

Tia grinned at them and headed for the door. Danny couldn't help himself. His eyes drifted down to her denim-clad rear. He liked what he saw.

Raul elbowed Danny in the ribs. "Stop gawking, dude. That's my sister, remember? Basically your sister too."

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"I'm just busting your ass." Raul laughed. "She'd chew you up and spit you out, anyway. Come on."

They entered Wizard's Tower, found the registration desk, signed up, and paid their two-dollar entry fee before heading to the back room. Barry, the heavyset and bearded man who worked for Phil, recorded their entry. The roster indicated there were, thus far, about ten others signed up. Danny glanced at the prize roster. First prize was two booster packs from the Legends set. He shrugged, thinking that was adequate but not extravagant.

Since the tournament wouldn't start until registration closed at eleven and Phil and Barry set up the brackets, the three of them sat together at one of the tables, took out their decks, and started getting everything ready. As they did, they took a chance to chat and catch up. Danny knew that Raul had started working on construction road crews as a signalman but had moved up to running a paver and was making pretty decent money. Raul told Danny he had an inside track on crew foreman. He had been dating a girl named Maria for a few months but just casually, and he seemed pretty happy with that.

Tia smiled as she told him about finishing high school strong the year before, getting a bunch of scholarships, and attending the University of Arizona there in Tucson for her degree in business. She'd also joined a recreational soccer league at school, which she stated helped keep her in shape. Danny resisted looking at her legs again as she said this.

"And what about you, hermano?" Tia said. "How did the Army treat you?"

The army had placed him in the specialty of 12R, or Interior Electrician. Danny has enjoyed it quite a bit and planned on pursuing his certification in the civilian world. He told them about his time in the service, including his two-year tour in Germany with the First Infantry Division.

Raul laughed at that. "Bet there were some hot women over there, eh?"

Danny nodded. "I saw a few, that's for sure." He glanced at Tia and caught a flicker of irritation pass over her face but she lowered her head to her deck and started organizing her sideboard, which made him realize he needed to do the same. Danny counted out the cards he thought he'd need to start with. That done, he glanced around the room. He didn't recognize any of the participants. "You know any of these folks? Are any of them good?"

"Some," Tia said with a shrug. She jerked her head at one dark-haired Hispanic man in his late twenties. "Mike's pretty good. He uses a land destruction deck a lot. Sinkholes and Strip Mines and such."

He nodded. Those were rarer cards but not unknown. Still, his deck could probably overcome it in most games.

Raul replaced his card container in his pack. "Unfortunately, Joel Jefferson shows up most weeks."

Danny's eyes narrowed. "He does, does he?"

"Yeah." Raul grimaced. "As you might guess, he's got a bunch of power cards."

At eleven, Barry announced an end to registrations and asked everyone to submit for deck inspection. Danny said he'd sit with their stuff while Tia and Raul got in line. Raul returned a few minutes later, so Danny scooped up his deck and sideboard, and walked to the front room, nearly bumping into Jefferson when he did.

Joel looked down his nose. "Carmichael? Long time, no see. Give up on the Army gig?"

"Yeah." He gazed at the other man with mild dislike. Joel Jefferson was about the same height as Danny but stick thin. He'd kept his blonde hair short, and even in the casual setting of the game shop, he wore a fashionable button-down shirt, slacks, and shoes that probably cost more than Danny had made in a week in the service. A stylish leather backpack draped over one shoulder. "You end up going to work for your dad?"

"Not yet." The man's voice held a pompous tone. "Finishing my MBA, then joining the firm."

They fell silent, without much else to say. Finally, Danny said, "Okay, well good to see you again. I need to go get my cards checked."

Joel laughed. "If you want to bother. I've got this wrapped up." He walked past, snickering at his own cleverness.

Danny scowled as he got in line.

Joel Jefferson came from money. His father was a corporate bigwig, his mother a mover-and-shaker in the local real estate industry. Through high school, he was always well-dressed, drove a nice car ... and had been the biggest pretentious asshole in the Class of '89. He was intelligent, though, which meant he and Danny ended up in a lot of the same advanced classes. Because of Joel's haughty attitude, they had never gotten along, which hit a boiling point one day at lunch, when Joel had made comments about Danny's "useless wetback friends." Having heard enough, Danny had knocked him down, which had earned him a day of in-school suspension. It had been worth it to Danny, to see the look of terror on Joel's face. The two hadn't tangled after that but mutual animosity had simmered beneath the surface since. It had been exacerbated when Danny placed two spots higher in their mutual graduating class—something Danny had heard had enraged Joel to no end.

And now the jerk's here. Dwelling on Jefferson's smirking face filled Danny's mind with dark thoughts. His brow furrowed and his nostrils flared.

He felt a soft touch on his arm. Danny blinked and turned his head.

Tia gazed at him, her face concerned. Her voice was soft. "Hey. You okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just seeing Jefferson dredged up some unpleasant memories."

She smiled and patted him on the arm. "Leave it behind, hermano. You're the better man now. You were then, too." She vanished into the back room.

Danny was the last person to get his deck inspected. Barry flipped through the cards. He paused at one point, frowned and flipped back, then nodded and went on. Danny asked, "Something wrong?"

Barry shook his head. Stray hairs waggled back and forth. "I thought I counted five Taigas."

The tournament format was known as Type One. That meant a minimum of sixty cards and no more than four of any card other than the basic land types. Certain powerful cards were also restricted to no more than one per deck, and cards that involved gambling or risking permanent loss of cards to the other player were banned. Each player had a fifteen-card "sideboard" they could use to swap cards between rounds, as long as doing so didn't add cards that violated the other rules.

Barry finished inspecting the deck and glanced around. None of the other players were in the room. "Strong deck. Looks fast."

"Thanks." Danny picked up his deck and sideboard. He faced the whiteboard, where Phil, the shop owner, finished entering the names the tournament bracket. It looked like fifteen players had signed up, meaning one player was getting a "bye" in the first round. Each match was the best two out of three games. He didn't recognize the name lined up against him. Raul and Joel were on the other side of the bracket. He'd play Tia in the semi-final if they both won their first two matches.

Phil verbally ran down the brackets, announcing the matches. "Danny and Liam, table four."

Danny took his seat across from a skinny, nervous kid who looked to be about sixteen. Liam's dark brown hair kept falling over his glasses. Danny put a smile on his face and extended his hand. "Danny. Good luck."

Liam gave him a tentative smile and shook.

They flipped a coin and Liam won. Danny left his sideboard alone; he'd wait to see his opponent's deck before swapping any cards in and out. He eyed Liam's deck, noting it was almost twice as high as his. Danny managed not to shake his head at the rookie mistake. Sure, a player would lose a game if they ran out of cards, but an experienced player would annihilate their opponent long before they were in danger of that. Conventional wisdom said to tailor a deck as close as possible to the tourney-minimum sixty cards, so the cards you wanted would come up faster.

He did smile at that thought. That very notion was why he loved the game Magic. So many cards, so many strategies, and always, there was the pursuit of that perfect deck. It had become one of his favorite hobbies since discovering it at his last duty assignment at Fort Stewart.

Danny and Liam shuffled their cards and set a counter for their life points. Twenty points, Danny thought. All that separates us from victory and defeat. They each drew seven cards. Danny scanned his hand and started implementing his strategy.

Liam started his turn by drawing a card. He played a lone card depicting a dismal marsh. A Swamp card, for black mana. He announced the end of his turn.

Danny drew. He dropped a Taiga on the table. The card depicted a forested mountainside and could act either as a Forest, for green mana, or a Mountain, for red mana. The so-called "dual-lands" were rare cards, valuable, and out of print. Danny had husbanded those cards, jealously guarding and refusing to trade them. He'd finally gotten four Taigas to round out his deck.

He turned the card sideways, announcing he was "tapping" the land for its mana, and said, "Red." Danny pulled the Kird Ape from his hand and placed it down. It was nominally a small creature, summoned by one red mana, but got a substantial bonus if there was a forest on the player's side. With the Taiga acting as both mountain and forest, the Ape immediately gained the bonus. Danny glanced at Liam's frown and announced the end of his turn.

Liam drew and placed another Swamp, clearly frustrated that his cards had not come up stronger.

Danny placed another land card, a strange-looking forge that generated uncolored mana. He attacked Liam with his ape, dinging the teenager for a few points. Liam adjusted his health bar. Danny tapped the factory and dropped a card showing a fiery ring. The Sol Ring was another mana producer. He tapped that and with the leftover mana from the forge, produced a card called Juggernaut, a massive crushing machine. It was forced to attack every turn, but without any creatures to block or any spell to destroy it, Liam was in trouble.

Liam's eyes widened.

It was over in a few turns. With Liam's ponderous deck unable to generate any defense or summon any creatures, Danny's Juggernaut and Ape mauled him. For his part, Liam looked stunned that he'd been undone so quickly. They cleared the board and started over. Danny didn't bother with his sideboard, as he clearly wouldn't need to swap cards. Since Danny won, Liam was able to go first again. The second match lasted two turns longer than the first. Liam managed to get out some low-powered Grizzly Bears but they were quickly destroyed by a Lightning Bolt from Danny.

They collected their cards from the table. "Thanks for the match," Danny said. He peered at Liam. "Can I offer you some advice?"

The kid nodded.

"See if you can slim down your deck. Try to focus on two colors that complement each other, like white and green, or blue and black, or red and green like mine. You can make opposing-color decks, like white and black or tri-color decks, but get some experience with two colors first. And try to stay to sixty cards. The taller the deck, the less likely you'll see the cards you really want."

"Okay." Liam looked at his deck with an appraising eye. "I'll give it a shot."

Danny glanced about the room. None of the other matches looked even remotely close to being done. "If you want, I can take a look and offer some suggestions."

He worked with Liam for ten minutes, offering his opinions. Liam didn't own a lot of rare or strong cards but Danny thought he could make something workable by stripping out the green cards and concentrating on his red and black cards. If Liam followed Danny's advice, he still wouldn't be consistently competitive against better-equipped players but his deck would be leaner and faster, and sometimes that was enough. Danny grimaced as he recalled his last match in Georgia, before leaving the army and coming home. The guy he'd played there hadn't had any great cards but his deck played to its strengths and he'd gotten lucky, knocking Danny out of the tournament. He frowned at the memory. There had been a Moat—a rare card from the Legends set—up for first prize that day.