AN: So, our date night chapter comes to a close... leaving us to enter the final arc for the volume. :)

Chapter 82.3: Operation: Fiance Shock and Awe

Blissful are those who in their ignorance never come to know the true horrors of the cosmos. Scott and Rhea continued their lives unaware that in worlds beyond bold new concepts were being presented to a people hungry for something new and exciting.

"Oh, so you made a new friend?" asked Rhea slowly, after she swallowed a bit of the rice of her fork. After spending several hours walking the streets of Valkovia, they had finally arrived at their dining destination. A nice, quiet, little restaurant that had the perfect lighting and atmosphere for a couple out on the town.

Scott finished sipping on his wine then nodded to the love of his life. "Yes, she seems nice enough. Wanted us to come visit her family estate if we ever managed to head in that direction."

Rhea eyed him curiously for a moment. "She seems awfully friendly for someone whom you have only met once."

"She was." said Scott without rising to her bait. "I figured that we haven't been able to do too much as an actual couple in a while, so I thought I'd see if you wanted to go hang out at some posh estate and make new friends."

The light began to dance in her eyes the moment that he admitted to wanting to do things as a couple. "Oh? That does sound nice..."

Dinner continued in its cheerful manner. Scott and Rhea laughed, they shared soft smiles, and enjoyed each other's company without the specter of gaming in the way. Life in a living, breathing, roleplaying game might often lead to people talking about stats and skills. But for now, life was a much simpler affair. It was the beauty of quiet laughter, and sweet words about a future that would be brighter simply because they planned to spend it together.

After dinner, they walked the streets once more. Night had fallen, and Valkovia was alive with light and sound. People from all over the world made their way through the unsleeping city. The sights and sounds provided myriad chances for wonder and whimsy.

Eventually, they made their way to the city park. Scott wanted to show his lady love something that he had figured out recent.

The park was filled with couples. The lookout hill was gone, but a new one was being constructed in memorial to those who had lost their lives during the attack. Valkovia had lost much that day. An entire section of town was partially abandoned, even certain areas of the park went largely unpoliced due to the damage. It was off-limits but manpower had to be directed toward protecting the residential and commercial areas.

It was to one of these less policed areas that Scott took Rhea. "I know this will probably seem pretty sad to you, considering what you can do back home." He smiled at her then moved into position. "Still, it's a big deal for me."

She smiled warmly at him then sat down on a nearby stump. After crossing her legs delicately like a lady, she granted him an imperious gesture. "Begin, good sir."

A slight grin crossed his lips. "Prepare to be slightly amazed. I came up with this after tinkering with my new discovery. It's sort of like a summoning spell..."

Rhea's eyes widened considerably. "You've learned how to summon something in only the few days that I've been gone? That's... amazing!"

"Well... sort of a summoning spell. You'll see. I literally figured out how to do this an hour or two before you arrived in town."

"Alright! This I have to see."

Hands that only a few months before had never touched upon the power of magic where pulled to one side and cupped like he planned to hurl a traditional fireball in a fighting game. "Oh power that turns back the darkest of nights, and gives rise to hope."

His hands moved swiftly to the other side of his body, a line of crackling light skittering through the air. "Spirit that nurtures all life and helps it to thrive."

He drew his hands to the center of his body, still cupped. The line of light followed his motions in dynamic fashion. "With this sign, know that your power is needed."

"Oh great power! Come and be one with me!" he shouted while moving his hands up above his head. Suddenly, a bright cone of light shot out from his cupped palms and displayed a symbol against the clouds high overhead.

Rhea's warm smile slowly shifted as the symbol became clear. She blinked then tilted her head to the side. "Scott... That... Is that..."

"Yes. At first I spent a lot of my energy trying to do one thing with a lot of one element. However, after practicing a little this morning, with a few short rest periods, I discovered there was even more to my recent discovery..." Scott began to laugh a little. He became giddy even as he explained what he had learned about his powers. Once he had discovered how his magic worked, several things began to fall into place. Tiny amounts of elemental energies could be woven together to create phantom images. They held no special power at his level of skill, but they were still neat.

"I used a combination of several elemental energies to create a sort of illusory image. It was actually really easy to do after I figured out the basic steps! Once I discovered that combining tiny amounts of elemental energy from several elements would allow me to—"

"No, no. I get that. What I want to know is if I'm looking at a giant pair of boobs using a cloud as a backdrop."

Scott's expression was soft and disarming as he said. "Yes. Yes, you are."

Rhea looked at the boob symbol in the sky then realized something. "They look familiar."

Scott grinned at her. "Hey, I needed an image that I could focus on completely and never grow bored..."

"Scott. Get my breasts out of the sky, please." asked Rhea in slow measured tones.

He tried not to laugh while he allowed the image to fade. Rhea sighed at him in exasperation, but the twinkle in her eyes spoke volumes about the truth of the situation. She was less angry than bemused. In fact, it was not long before she asked, "You came up with a paragraph length chant and mastered it well enough to cast it in one try... all to create that?"

"Actually, I have a short form version. Let me show you." he said cheerfully.

"What? No, that's al—" began Rhea. She was drowned out, however, as Scott began his new chant.

"Rhea's!" he cried, while moving his cupped hands swiftly to one side. "Rhea's!" Just like the first time, his hands moved to the opposite side, a trail of sparkling light left in their wake. "Rhea's boobs!" cried Scott, before thrusting his palms into the air. "Ho!" he roared with all the breath in his body. The word echoed through the area as brilliant cone of light erupted through the air to emblazon Rhea's epic breasts upon the clouds once more.

"Oh... You... Oh..." Rhea had no idea what to say to that. In the end she placed her palm over her face and sighed deeply. Her fiancé had decided to make a summoning spell after all, one patterned off of a certain 1980s cartoon series.

Her face burning bright red, she stalked over to the ridiculous sorcerer and grabbed him by the ear. Scott's laughter was cut short as she started to pull him along. "Hey, that hurts, you know."

She muttered, "It's supposed to." and continued to pull him away from the area.

It was not until she mumbled, "You're gonna get it." that Scott spoke again.

"Will I like it?" he asked curiously.

"Maybe." she said in a slightly lighter tone.

She continued to pull on his ear for a short time, before she stopped and sighed. "Scott, what possessed you to make a spell like that?"

He shrugged. "Nothing else worked. It came out as little flat silhouettes for the most part. Even when I tried to project Ero, I tended to get the proportions wrong.... sometimes ridiculously."

"So, is that all you see me as?" she asked him softly. "Is that why it worked so well for you?"

Scott laughed a little. "No. I can make a decent copy of your whole body. It's just easier to focus on one thing."

"Oh? Why is that?" she asked, uncertain of his motives.

The sorcerer smiled in response. "You're always on my mind, so it's easy to remember everything about you." Rhea blinked then her nostrils flared slightly as his hand moved over to her face. He softly traced the curve of her cheek then caressed her lips with his thumb. "The curve of your face, the softness of your lips... That wonderful expression you make when you want to set me on fire... Everything about you is unforgettable for me."

Her face reddened again slightly. She looked at him with a loving expression. "Oh Scott..."

"Yes, Rhea...?" he asked her sweetly, his eyes locked to hers and a tender smile on his lips.

She reached up and lightly ran her fingers along his cheek as well. Softly, she tilted her head to the side, and then suddenly she snatched his ear and turned around to drag him off again.

He cried out in surprise, but she refused to let go. "What are you, my mother?" he asked in a cringing voice.

"You've been a naughty boy. Now come with me." she said seriously.

Scott could have easily gotten out of her grip. Truthfully, it did not even hurt that much due to his stats. Still, he did wonder what her game plan was at the moment. Concerned that it could lead to a fight, he made a reasonable suggestion. "Hey, you could always just show off my chest to the world or something. I mean, damn, my little spell didn't even show nipple."

Rhea stopped cold. She then stood perfectly upright and made a slight coughing noise.

"Rhea...?" asked Scott, surprised by her sudden change in demeanor.

The blue haired maiden turned toward him slowly. She sucked on her lower lip briefly while she looked upon him with an expression of concern. "Well... About that..."

Eyes locked together, they shared a silent moment before Rhea took a deep breath. What followed was an explanation that Scott had not even remotely suspected.

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and sorrowful. "So, yeah... That's what happened."

"You... shared my naked ass with your family and the entire company?" asked Scott slowly.

"I– Yes." she said softly. Her eyes began to lower toward the ground, but her head snapped up when she heard Scott's loud obnoxious laughter. It was reminiscent of a braying jackass.

"That's just awesome!" Scott's laughter grew louder and he shook his head. "Man, I can't even imagine."

"It's not funny, you jerk!" cried Rhea.

Scott drew her into his arms and held her tight. "That could only happen to you."

"S'not funny." she insisted petulantly.

"It's kinda funny." said Scott shamelessly.

"No... Not even a little." she said without giving him an inch.

He stroked her hair then tried to fight down the laugh that was building up within him once more. The idea of his naked ass being sent to the whole company as a direct line from their boss was just too good.

"It really upset me, you know..." she said softly.

"I bet." He leaned his chin down against her shoulder and gave her a warm hug. "Forgive me for laughing?"

"Sure..." she said with a soft smile. "Forgive me for sending my father a picture of you naked?"

"No problem." He said, but quickly continued. "Everyone needs something to believe in."

Rhea blinked. A moment later she understood what he had said then pulled away from him. "Really?" she asked, laughter in her eyes.

"What better image can there be to bring hope to the world." proclaimed Scott.

"Right, because the world needs to see my fiancé naked." muttered Rhea.

Scott kissed her sweetly on the lips then cupped her face in his hands. "Hey, don't worry about it. This will all blow over in a day or two. It's not like anyone outside the company saw it, right?"

"Yeah, that's true. Good thing I'm not going to work for a few days." said Rhea with more confidence than she had shown in the last few minutes.

"I disagree." said Scott in a stern voice.

"Wha... Scott?" she asked, confused by his sudden change of demeanor.

He scooped her up in his arms then spoke in a lower octave than normal. "I'll be putting you to work ma'am."

"Scott?" she asked again, a bemused expression on her face.

"The night is still young..." he said before offering her a silly grin. "Time to work off your debt to me."

Rhea crossed her arms over her chest. "What debt do I owe you, mister?"

"I have yet to be compensated for your trafficking of my naked masculine backside." he said before starting off toward the park exit.

"Hey, you showed my boobs to the world! That makes us even." she said in a feigned huff.

"I don't recall doing anything like that." said Scott seriously.

Rhea snorted at him. "You made an entire summoning spell designed to call me to you, and based it on my boobs! Ring a bell, now?"

"Nope. You are obviously suffering a delusional episode brought on by a lack of sex." explained Scott, before coming to a stop near the entrance.

"No, I'm sure that really happened." she said.

"I see. The symptoms are worsening." Scott held her tighter and started to run down the street once more. "I must administer the cure immediately."

"What cure might that be?" she asked with a wry smile. As goofy as Scott was, she did enjoy it when he became excited about things in general.

"It comes in the form of an anal suppository." said Scott.

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't." said Rhea, her tone flat and dismissive.

"The delusions are becoming worse." said Scott. He looked into Rhea's eyes then feigned panic. "Don't worry! I'll get that suppository in there! No matter what it takes."

"No! I really don't think it works that way." she said. Her words fell on deaf ears as her ridiculous fiancé raced off toward their hotel room. He had a life to save tonight.