Disembarking from a cab, which Top himself booked earlier, Gameplay seems to be full in the tummy and weary, yet he still has the same aura from early in the morning when he reported for work – vibrant and gleeful. He finds himself under a waiting shed in a deserted sidewalk with lighted lampposts. From where he is, he must walk a little to his left, past CBOT, to get to Cocotte.

"It's only 8:54," said GP, looking at his watch while putting his wallet back in his pocket. "Plan and I can start when I get there." However, before he can make a step, a hand grips his arm from behind. With a powerful yank, he gets pulled backwards, hitting the body of his captor – strong and durable like a wall.

"Don't talk, just walk," the abductor said. His voice a little bit muffled, leading Gameplay to believe that the mouth is covered with something.

"Who are you?" asked GP in a firm tone. As he tries to turn around and look, the man suddenly presses something solid and cold into his side – an object made of metal.

"Don't turn around," said the man.

Attempting to get another sort of attention, Gameplay slowly raises his other hand in a gesture of surrender.

"Put your hand down." The man presses his weapon harder on GP.

"Okay. Okay. Just...dddon't shoot...mmme." GP's voice starts to shake, thinking that the man is pressing a pistol – fully loaded and cocked – against him. "What...ddddo...you...wwant?"

"Act cool. If you do anything stupid, I'll pull the trigger. Got it?"

"Okkkaayyy...ssiiir. Jjjust...please...don't hurt me."

"Follow me and keep quiet." Maintaining his vise-like grip on GP's arm, the man pushes his hostage forward as they both walk.

Nearing the vicinity of the Commercial Bank Of Thailand, Gameplay's phone lets out a ring. "Can I get that? Someone is expecting my call by this time," he said. His captor, however, shows no sign of being disoriented.

"Didn't I tell you to keep quiet?" asked the man as they turn a corner instead of going to the front entrance of CBOT. As they make their way inside, he pokes Gameplay with his weapon each time the other slows down or attempts to look behind.

***

"I told him to call me when he gets back to Cocotte, and he has dropped my call twice now," said Top, walking back to his office after the company's Pearl celebration has concluded.

Upon getting inside, he immediately goes to his computer, which he did not shut down when he left earlier, and unlocks it. He next logs in to Charybdis and goes directly to the Encash option in the home page.

"Let's say three billion? That's only a small amount, isn't it?" said Top, typing the figure in the respective textbox in the application. However, when he clicks the Cash Out button, he gets an error message – something that he did not expect to happen:

Action failed. Insufficient funds detected. Please enter an amount not greater than 2,011,552.75.

"What the hell is this!?" exclaimed Top, his eyes almost popping out of where they are. 

***

Checking the time in his watch is Chef Plan, who is seated by the bar table of Cocotte Restaurant. "Where is Gameplay? It's nearing half-past-nine," he said, turning his head to one side and to the next to scan if the man he is waiting for has arrived. Anxious on whether or not his boss may have forgotten about their meeting tonight, he gets his phone out and calls him. Almost ten rings reverberate over the line, but there was no answer on the opposite end of it.

***

Gameplay and his captor are now in a small and congested room that reeks a pungent scent like those that are used for cleaning a surface. A wooden chair is in the middle, and behind it is an unusually large sink, which one can surmise is being used to wash something that is not a kitchenware. On the side stands a five-tier cabinet, with its first, second, fourth, and topmost level filled with an assortment of things from bottles of different sizes, to chamois, tough brushes to which a handle has been attached to, as well as unused mop heads sealed in their plastic container. Another chair is standing beside the cabinet and is directly in front of an open laptop sitting on the third level, which has been used as a crude table.

After locking the door, GP's captor turns on the sole light bulb to illuminate the dark enclosure. Once done, they immediately go to the wooden chair in the center.

"Sit down," said the man, still holding Gameplay and with his weapon also still pressed on the other's side.

"Where are we?"

"I said sit down."

"You're kidnapping me. If you get caught in this..."

"Please," said the man, his tone is now in a plea rather than something one uses to intimidate another.

To Gameplay's surprise, he feels that the hold in his captured arm is slowly relaxing. The sensation of the solid object being pressed on his side is slowly diminishing.

"Please sit down," repeated the man, freeing GP completely.

With no one grabbing him anymore, GP turns around to see who has abducted him. To his surprise, he sees that his kidnapper is wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, which is obviously why his voice is stifled. Aside from the mask, the man also has a jacket, gloves, pants, all of which are of the same black color that is so shiny it can amplify the light being spread over the room.

"I don't want to hurt you," said the man this time, resonating sincerity.

"I find that hard to believe considering you forced me here," retorted Gameplay, furrowing his eyebrows as he looks at the holes in the mask that serve as eyes.

"I will never hurt you – trust me." The man, then, puts a hand each on GP's shoulders. Slowly, he pushes down Gameplay as careful as he possibly can until the other ends up with his butt flat on the wooden chair.

Even if Gameplay has sat down, the man never lets go of his shoulder, instead he repeatedly gives them a light press, assuring the other that he means no harm. "Trust me," he said again to seal his being true to his word.

For the first time since he was at the waiting shed, Gameplay feels at ease, with the belief that he is safe despite being in the presence of someone who is wearing something that conceals the face – the one feature that can be used to identify a person. Something inside GP is telling him that the other will not break his word.

"Put your hands on the arm rest," said the man, letting go of GP.

"I'm not going to run away if that is your concern." Gameplay never takes his eyes off the Guy Fawkes mask, believing that the two of them is looking eye-to-eye despite the impediment. "Trust me like I just did you."

The man did not say anything in return. Instead, he moves forward until the lips of the mask is touching GP's – the weirdest kiss one can give.

Calmly surprised at first, Gameplay doesn't know what to do to respond, just staying still but with his eyes open so he could see. However, when the man holds both his hands, he feels something weird from his gut, then it crawls all over his body like spilled water slowly spreading on the surface it lands on. As it moves along his system, it disperses an indescribable heat enough to trigger goosebumps. Without warning, he resonates the kiss, moving his lips along the heavy-duty plastic, not minding if he does it on a costume rather than flesh.

After a while, the man moves back to separate. "Don't go anywhere," he said, patting GP's head after.

GP nods, which the man saw from behind his mask. "Why did you take me here?" he asked his captor confidently.

However the man did notanswer. Instead, he walks towards the laptop, which is on and is showing awebsite - https://JeffSaturTheGreat.web. He presses F5 to reloadthe page, and the result makes him trace a wide grin – all tooth out to show –on his face:

Top goes through the different screens in Charybdis, trying to see if he is just hallucinating or of it is true that his billions of Baht shrunk to a measly two million in only a matter of hours. He is just about to access a screen named Security Logs when his phone rings. However, when he looks at it, it is displaying Unidentified Number. "Who the hell is this?" he asked as soon as he takes the call, irritated in a way because it is causing him delay.

"The man who has robbed you," answered someone on the other line.

"I don't have time to play with you – whoever you are."

"Make time."

"Good night jackass." Top is about to end the call for good when he hears the man from the other end of the line speak again.

"Take a look at Charybdis – the total pot that is in her."

Top yields and goes to the first screen he went to earlier. It opens and shows the same amount he saw before - 2,011,552.75.

"As you may be already seeing, Charybdis has a little over two million Baht in her."

"So, what's your point?"

"I'm sending you a website; go to it using any browser."

Momentarily, Top's phone sounds an alert that it has received an SMS.

"You should've received it by now, right?" asked the man.

Top activates the speaker mode and opens the SMS that has just come on. "Topsucks.html?" he verified as he puts his phone down.

"Correct. Go to it."

As if at the hands of a puppet master, Top obeys without question. He launches a web browser on his computer and types the web address on the address bar. When the page loads, his eyes widen as his mouth traces a perfect O in astonishment. "That is...that is my twenty billion Baht!" he shouted, seeing the figures in the screen: 20,621,337,024.66.

"Twenty-point-six billion to be exact, and topsucks.html is my website. That means your money is at my mercy."

"GIVE THEM BACK TO ME!" Good thing is that Top's secretary is not around or else, she would've barge inside his office to check on him why he is shouting.

"It's not my fault you let your guard down on this day – a special day to you when you're at the pedestal. That is what happens when let your defense down: you'll lose something."

"What did you say?" Something must have ticked inside Top's head after what he has just heard.

"I warned you three days ago, Sutthirak. It is at our strongest when the devil comes to take us: we feel so indomitable, thinking nothing can defeat us only to be proven wrong." The man lays down his Guy Fawke's mask and stapler on his makeshift desk.

"Satur!?" The stress in Top's voice when he said the surname had nothing more but disgust and spite.

"Sutthirak. Good evening, and happy Pearl Anniversary to you and your precious little backdoor syndicate called Le Cargaison."

"MY COMPANY IS NOT A SYNDICATE!"

"We shall see." Jeff's voice resounds confidence that is off the charts despite being just lied at.

"Where are you taking my money, Satur?"

"Excuse me? Your money?" asked Jeff to confirm if his ears have deceived him. "Finders Keepers, Sutthirak." Jeff almost sings the sentence in a tone of pure and unadulterated mockery.

"Where are you taking my money?" repeated Top, saying each word with a corresponding stress.

"I'm going to Disneyland with your twenty-plus billion dumped in some luggage. Oh sorry – MY twenty-plus billion."

"You won't get away with this, Satur: I'm going to find you and get..."

"Ahh, well, good luck with that. Oh, with the way I took them, Sutthirak, it would take you a hundred years to track a single Baht," sneered Jeff. With the manner he used on how he got Top's money, he was right in his every word. "Although, I am not a heartless person. I'll give you a chance."

"How? What should I do now?" Top furrows his eyebrows over his computer, as if it is the enemy.

"We play a game."

------

Author's Note

This is the moment we've been waiting for - at least most of us that is. Jeff and Top squaring off against each other despite not looking each other in the eye. They would rip each others' lungs out if they are looking face-to-face.

What kind of game they are going to play? Top better give the correct answers because his money is on the line. Oohhh this is going to be good: if you like Miami vs. Golden State, you're going to love this.

Stay tuned for release of the next chapter - Jeffpardy - soon.

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