“Everyone has been summoned to the city hall for a last minute speech. You are the only one who is not there.”
Sam jerked to his feet at the robot’s words, his mind thankfully still clear, thanks to his high mental stats.
“Shit! When did it start? Why was I not notified?” Sam said, mortified at the idea of being the one who was holding up proceedings.
“It only came up about an hour ago. The other captains wanted to give a final address before everything kicks off. As to why you were not notified, I assumed that you had seen everyone else leave this area, but apparently not.”
Sam ignored the latter half of the robot’s words, and ran towards the city hall. There was a faint hum of talking from inside the building, and he ran towards the doors, opening them frantically. The noise was coming from the meeting hall, and Sam dashed there, entering it a few seconds later. As soon as he entered the room, everyone went silent. The entire faction, all two thousand plus of them, were waiting for him. He walked up to the front of the room, where the ten captains stood, and found the only open spot, the one behind the podium.
“Let’s have a hand for our leader!” Eduardo called out as soon as Sam had found his place, turning the minds of the crowd away from wondering what Sam had been doing, to greeting him. Sam waved back, and smiled weakly. Eduardo, apparently now the spokesman of the event, stepped forwards and stood next to Sam.
“Now, the faction leader has some words that he would like to share with you about the trials to come,” Eduardo said, suddenly stepping back, leaving Sam all alone to face the crowd. He gulped, and then suddenly quashed the feeling, his Daos surging within him. He had accomplished so much already, and he wasn't going to let something like fear of public speaking put him down. Utilizing his Intelligence, he began to concoct a speech on the fly.
“Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of this city and members of the Arbiters of Justice, welcome. As you all know, a series of great tribulations, greater than anything we have faced before, will be starting within a day. Three great threats loom over us, and for our sake, and the sake of Earth, we must prevail. The first of those threats is one that pits faction against faction, human against human. Seven great weapons have been placed around the world, and only one faction can unlock their true power. Secondly, a threat from a far more horrifying source hangs over us, that of the people who were previously seen as protectors. The armies of the world have united into a monstrosity of corruption, and must be excised. Finally, the most dangerous threat of all, that of invasion, must be dealt with. Our universe may seem like an island, but it is not. Marauders from beyond our universe seek to plunder our resources, steal our hard earned wealth. However, we will not let these come to pass. We shall beat back the other factions and unite Earth! We will exterminate the army of evil! We will show the rest of the Multiverse that we are not to be messed with! Now, who’s with me?” Sam raised his fist, and the crowd erupted into cheers. Behind him, Jeffrey was looking at the back of Sam’s head with a shocked look on his face. Sam sometimes projected an aura of simplicity, but he was anything but.
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Sam smiled broadly as he took in the effect that his words had. He had just boosted the morale of the faction members by a significant amount by his speech. The subtle application of his aura, imbued with his Dao, also had helped, but nobody had to know about that. The grin that Lao was flashing at Sam told him that the man had sensed the aura, but nobody else had done so, it seemed. Sam withdrew from the podium and Eduardo walked up.
“Now that you have gathered here, it's time for one last feast before the End Times come! Eat and drink like there’s no tomorrow, for there very well might now be.”
An army of serving robots surged into the room, carrying trays loaded with food and drinks. A warm glow of companionship shortly suffused the room, and Sam walked over to Jeffrey as the party went into full swing.
“You were pretty shocked at that speech, weren’t you, Jeffrey?” Sam said with a cheeky smile. The other man nodded.
“For the life of me, I thought that you were only good at smashing things with that mace of yours,” Jeffrey answered, with a grin of his own. “Also, that’s an interesting fashion choice,” the man said, pointing at Sam’s armor.
“Yeah, it seemed fitting seeing as we are soon going to be having the fight of our lives.”
“Now, Sam, I have a few friends that I want to introduce you to,” Jeffrey said, pulling on Sam’s arm. Sam followed the man, reasonably sure that he knew where this was going. As they exited the room, Sam became sure.
“Jeffrey, you better not be trying to get me to participate in some sort of orgy. I know your inclinations.”
“Sam, come on. By the looks of you, you’ve never had real fun in your life. Fun that only a certain type of companionship can provide.”
It was at that moment that Rax sidled up.
"Where are you two going?” The herpotopede said.
“Uh, the bathrooms,” both of them said, only succeeding in making the purpose of their trip sound even stranger.
“That’s where you humanoids fulfill your bodily functions, right?”
“Uh, yes, Rax, but can we go please? Sam here is dying to go,” Jeffrey said, with a pained smile on his face. The lizard nodded, and walked down the hallway, and away from them. Then the conversation resumed.
“Did you just call me a virgin?” Sam said, realizing what Jeffrey had implied.
“Are you one?”
“Damn it. Yes.”
“Wait, really?” Jeffrey said. “I’m sorry for your loss, Sam. However, you have a chance to make it all up tonight. What do you say to have a little bit of fun?”
Thus began a night that Sam would later forcibly excise from his mind. That was not to say that it wasn't fun, but halfway through the night, Jeffrey had gotten more than a little bit drunk, and had decided to switch back to his bird form. Seeing what was basically a giant chicken furry engaging in inappropriate acts with multiple people at the same time was something that Sam did not wish to remember. Even worse, the others seemed to have wanted him to do so. It seemed that there were quite a few deviants in his faction. As long as they could fight however, Sam was fine with that.
Sam had kept himself sober through the night, in order to make sure that he was ready for the morning to come. As the dawn broke, and the sun crested the horizon, the world trembled.