Freak Attack!

The boys walked silently down the tunnel allotted to them. Initially, they could hear the girls' voices through the separating wall. However, as the passages diverged, their sounds faded and eventually disappeared. 

"We will appear at your side once the test is over," Felix the hedgehog had reassured them. "Good luck!" he had added before disappearing with his colleagues.

And thus, the boys were by themselves, walking down the spooky tunnel. The liaisons had left each of them with a light orb that levitated above their heads like miner lamps.

"Should we take off our clothes already?" Cory asked. "I don't want to be burned alive by the freaks. That's not the way I want to go."

"Yes, let's do that right away!" Blaze announced with enthusiasm.

The other boys stripped down to nothing. Pan hesitated and wished he could do it in the darkness. However, a gnarled light orb floated above him, casting him into the spotlight. 

Pan felt a wave of intimidation overwhelm him as he stared at the guys' bare bodies. Blaze obviously was in the best physical shape. He was like a younger GigaChad with bulging muscles all over. 

Zete was not ripped but had a lean constitution. He seemed like someone born with quality genes and followed a good diet. 

Cory was an athlete and a parkour freerunner. He had the most wholesome fitness among the guys.

That left Pan, who was overall good-looking, but there was something uncharacteristic about him.

"Dude!" Cory exclaimed. "You have a massive dong!"

Pan turned red immediately, covering his groin. Blaze intervened and dictated that there would be no unhealthy ridicule among step-siblings. Everyone else agreed to the law. Pan was uncomfortable but grateful.

"I was just paying him a compliment!" Cory grumbled.

After undressing, the group walked on silently for a few minutes. The cave was noisy, with water trickling down the walls. Gurgle! Gurgle! They could hear the constant sound of water running over rock.

"Why couldn't we go with the girls?" Pan asked abruptly.

Blaze guffawed. "That's more like it, brother! You want to see the girls naked, eh?"

The boy flushed red. "I.. uh… not exactly…"

"Come on! There is no need to be shy. You are among the guys now. Let me break the ice. Hmm. That girl, Ivy, is a wild thing. I might consider bending her over against the cave wall and-"

"Ivy, huh?" Zete chimed in. "Don't you think something's wrong with her? She keeps inviting everyone for an orgy. Her swimsuit is intentionally transparent. Doesn't she raise all kinds of red flags?"

"Well, I don't judge," Blaze replied with a grin and a wink. "If she wants to grind, I won't discourage her. She has the proper birthing hips to handle me." 

The hulk guffawed while Zete did a facepalm.

"I have a girlfriend back home, but I like Jackie," Cory said, swatting at a mosquito. "I think she is a celebrity back on earth. I want to play with her hair and fool around with her under the sheets."

"That's an oddly specific fantasy," Pan joked.

"What can I say? I like idols."

"No, I meant the hair and the sheets."

"Never mind," Cory said, embarrassed. "What about you? Who will be the unlucky lady to take in your massive cock?"

Pan looked from one face to the other. The boys were speaking their dirty minds so readily! That, too, about their step-sisters! He had never had a chance to vent his perversion, let alone about girls related to him.

"Who do you like, Pan?" Blaze pressed on. "Don't worry about moral concerns. They are our step-sisters, and people with divine blood procreate too frequently. We are like a few spores in a million. My liaison, Brine, told me that. Anyway, whatever we talk amongst ourselves shall stay secret. Locked in the vault! Isn't that so, brothers?"

"Yeah, bros before hoes," Cory agreed. "What happens in the cave stays in the cave!"

"Naturally," Zete said with a shrug.

"So, tell me, Pan, who do you fancy among our gorgeous sisters?!" Blaze posed again.

"......." the boy replied.

"What was that?"

"Penny…."

"Oh, yeah! Nice choice! Perfect boobs and ass," Blaze said, scratching his chin. "She would be my first choice if she weren't so preachy." 

"Don't get me started!" Cory exclaimed, throwing up his arms. "I thought I was the only one. In raw numbers, she could be a supermodel. However, she seems too holier than thou. The girl reminds me of my parents."

"Perhaps she is truly kind and not pretentious like you think," Pan suggested, but nobody else was paying attention.

"What's the deal with your parents, man?" Zete asked Cory. "You were pretty vocal about them earlier. Do they beat or abuse you or something?"

The freerunner spat on the ground. "I despise them. Fucking snakes! Let me become a god first. I'll make them suffer hell on earth!"

"Damn! That's some deep-rooted hatred right there," Blaze said with a wave. "Anyway, I hope it is clear to everyone now that our Earth parents aren't our biological parents. Eros has birthed each of us through his paramours." 

Everyone else nodded. "How do your parents treat you, Blaze?" Zete asked.

"Mine are okay, I guess. They mostly seem scared of me and get me anything I want."

"Oh, mine are illiterate," Zete said. "They don't always understand what I am talking about."

Nobody asked Pan about his parents, for which he was grateful. He felt it wise to change the topic before somebody roped him in. "Guys, did your liaisons advise you on how to clear this stage? I mean, how do we deal with the weird monsters?"

Zete spoke up. "Coco told me we have to tame the freaks somehow. Use our inherent powers. I didn't get what he meant by that."

"That's definitely something to go with," Pan said with a sigh. "Felix mentioned we have to collect desire crystals egested by freaks, right?"

"Yep. So, Coco said that we cannot satisfy them even if we feed them all the fluids in our bodies. We must use our inherent powers to quench their thirst."

"I still don't know what that means."

“Neither do I… We are so screwed…”

"I think other liaisons are directly helping their candidates," Pan complained. "They're providing all the information and guidance possible. Mine is always secretive or vague. What's up with that? Did I draw the short straw? And ever since the couples' counseling incident, Jewel has been acting weird around me."

"Every liaison has a different method of guidance," Zete explained. "I heard Jewel is a senior division liaison. You'll just have to trust him."

Pan shrugged. "Fine. Still, I feel he's hiding something from me."

"You have marks across your body," Zete noticed. "What happened?"

"You don't have to look," Pan replied.

All three boys glared at him. "Fine, I will share... I was… bullied."

"Damn!" Cory said. "Bullying? That must have hurt! What kind of weirdos are in your college?" 

"What did you do to deserve that?" Zete posed.

Pan sighed. "I… uh… I was talking to our class diva, and therefore the rich kids guys beat me up."

There was an uncomfortable silence in the tunnel. Blaze, Cory, and Zete were from different cities, but they were from wealthy families.

"I hate elitists!" Zete said aloud. "I would prefer a social hierarchy based on merit rather than the family you were born into." 

Blaze put a hand around Pan and gave him a hug-squeeze. "I'm so sorry such a terrible thing happened to you, little brother. Once we get to earth, I'll fuck 'em up for you!"

"Thanks for saying that," the boy replied with a thin smile. "It means a lot. But I can handle myself."

"That's more like it!" Zete chirped. "I heard liaisons can fix anything with magic. You can ask Jewel to heal your scars. And also shorten your dick a bit…"

"Can we stop talking about-"

*slither* *slurp* *slither* slurp*

"Shh! Did you hear that?" Zete asked. 

"Yeah, what is it?"

Cory, who was standing furthest, peered into the darkness ahead. "I think I see something." He took a few steps forward in anxiety.

Slip! He was thrown off his feet and landed on the ground with a bump.

"Help!" Cory called out. "Something has wrapped itself around my ankles! Help…. Aaaaaa!"

Something slurped and gurgled, and the boy was dragged into the darkness.

"What the fuck?!" Blaze exclaimed. "Where did he go?"

"It must be the freaks!" Cory replied in panic. He backed off the way they came.

*slither* *slurp* *slither* slurp* 

Cory felt something around his feet. Before he could react, he also found himself on the ground, skidding into the darkness. "Heeelp!"

"Where did Cory go?" Pan asked in alarm. "Why is this turning into a low-budget alien creature movie?!"

"They're hunting us!" Blaze exclaimed. "We need to keep our eyes peeled."

"Look out!" Pan warned him as he saw something moving towards Blaze.

A shadowy, blob-like creature jumped at the hulk. Bam! Blaze punched the monster square, and it skittered off. "See, that's how you deal with monsters!" he declared with pride.

*slither* *slurp* *slither* slurp*

The next moment, a dozen of those creatures emerged from the darkness. They leaped at Blaze like kamikazes. They attached themselves to his face, groin, and belly. 

*slurp slurp slurp slurp*

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!" Pan exclaimed, horrified by the turn of events. He turned on his heel and ran back the way they came.