Chapter 35: Arcade
Grey was walking through the street with Elijah, Var, Aurora, and the rest. They were heading to an arcade to have some fun.
Back at the cafe, once the drinks arrived, the group stopped "arguing" to enjoy the pastries that were soon to arrive. Grey chose a bear claw, prompting Aurora to get a bear claw immediately after he did. Aurora's choosing so quickly prompted the girls to get a bear claw as well, whilst Var, Blake, Elijah, and Darren all chose other pastries.
After they thoroughly appreciated their food and drinks and talked about nothing important, they decided that it would be fun to go to an arcade.
- See, isn't this relaxing? - Fallen Star asked, Its voice oozing that It already knew the answer.
'Yes, yes it is. If my goal wasn't to kill God, I would have surely lived my childhood hanging out with the neighborhood kids, doing things like this, I hope. Or just playing at a playground, like normal children.' He replied.
- Well then, I won't keep you. - Fallen Star said, Its voice was normal, although a little bit of pain came through in Its voice.
'Sure.' Grey chuckled. He knew that when he spoke of childhood, Fallen Star felt a little guilty. It had given him a second chance to live, only to steal away a new experience by making him train. However, Grey had given his consent for that, and he didn't regret it. He enjoyed the feeling of growing stronger, and he had been given an outlet to quench his desire to learn. It was much more subdued now.
Grey had wanted to tell Fallen Star all about how he had no problem with the way he spent his childhood, but he had yet to find a good time to bring it up. They were so busy training, and Grey was so easily absorbed in it that most of his days were spent in the zone, unable to think of more than training.
"Yo, we're here." A voice brought him out of his thoughts. Var was slightly ahead of the group, his ginger hair complimenting his smile well as he pointed toward a building that sat on a small hill.
"Mhm." Grey said, which was followed by a collective '''Wow!''' from the group. Grey's reaction was rather plain, but the others couldn't help but be wowed by the building.
It was a 3-story building made of brick that was painted white, purple, green, and black. Massive windows sat on each floor, allowing you to see what was inside.
Var dashed toward the group, grabbing Grey and Aurora from the group.
"Come on." He dragged them with him, racing ahead of the group. "I spoke with the others and found out, you two are the only ones who haven't been to an arcade before."
"How did you-" Grey was about to ask how Var knew that when he hadn't spoken to them, but was shut up by Var's response.
"It's a secret!"
He took them with him up the steps to the arcade, and then, upon reaching the revolving door to the building, flung them toward it.
They caught themselves, standing upright to stare at Var. He quickly caught the meaning behind their glares. He was no longer needed.
"Well, bye!" Var stated with a hint of urgency in his voice. He quickly ran down the stairs, toward the group he had left behind, but neither Grey nor Aurora made a move. He would come back soon enough.
Soon the 7 others in the group poked their heads out from the staircase, so Grey and Aurora walked up to them. Grey moved next to Elijah, and Aurora to Hannah.
"So, this is an arcade, huh?" Grey asked.
"Yup!" Elijah responded with a smile on his face. He ran slightly ahead, turned around, and declared to the boys, "The last one to the VR Pod is a vampire!", which caused all of them to run in the building.
Other than Aurora, the girls all chuckled at the antics of the boys.
Inside the arcade was the same as the outside. Purple, green, white, and black designs were strewn across the wall, with neon lights and loud pop music in the background.
Grey hurried between the people in the arcade, dodging left and right, scanning the room for the VR pods. He had never seen a VR pod, forcing him to go off of intuition, but he wanted to win, so he pushed forward.
'Not that, not that either, I think.'
Grey spotted a certain ginger-haired individual, so he sped up and latched onto his neck using his arm. Grey slowed to match the elf's pace, and then spoke.
"So, where are the pods?"
"I don't know." Var said as he tried to remove Grey's arm. Unfortunately for the elf, Grey was much stronger than him, so his efforts were in vain.
"Okay, I believe you." Grey let go of him, allowing Var to run a little further away, before speeding up and catching him.
"Have you seen it yet?"
"No..." This time, Var's voice was a little shaky, so it was clear to Grey that he knew something.
He moved his other hand down to Var's ribcage and used a light crawling motion on his shirt, prompting Var to burst out laughing.
Grey had no clue that Var was ticklish, so it was just a guess, but now that he knew he did, he planned to take advantage of it.
He skidded both of them to a stop, and then ferociously tickled the poor elf.
"Tell me where it is!" He cried.
"AHA... I... HAHA... don't know... HAAHA." Var replied.
"Sure you don't." Grey nodded his head and then began to tickle him more.
"AHAH... Okay, okay! I AHA, saw them in the HAHA, corner." He pointed to one of the corners of the room.
Grey stopped tickling him immediately after, and then swept Var's legs, knocking him on the floor. From that, he grabbed him by the arms, and flung his body across the floor, in the opposite direction from the VR pods.
"That's for earlier."
Grey ran to where Var had said the pods were, and when he arrived at the corner, he was stunned.
'That little elf!'
Var had lied to Grey.
Grey spun around, scanning the room.
'Person, claw machine, space invaders, claw machine... argh!- where is it.' From his position, Grey couldn't see the VR pods.
Tap Tap-
A tap came from behind, gently hitting his shoulder, so he turned around.
"Oh, Aurora."
---
"Damnit Var, I swear I'm gonna-" Grey was sitting on the ground, next to the VR pods, slightly pissed.
He had come last in the search for the VR pods, hence he was labeled vampire.
"I'm sorry Grey. Not! You tickled me, so you deserve it." Var laughed as he remembered the trick he had played on Grey, and then hugged himself, sidling away as if Grey would attack him.
The VR pods were located on the second floor, something Grey didn't know how to get to. He had originally assumed that the second floor was for the workers, as, from both the bottom and top of the hill, the windows reflected the sun too much, so you couldn't see inside.
They were all white and looked kind of like a coffin. The door opened from the middle and it was all automatic. When they opened, they released a flood of air, so it looked really cool.
"Anyway, let's play! We'll do a tourney, and the winner can fight Grey." Elijah butted in.
"Sure, just don't cry when I win!" Blake said.
"I'll set up the tourney." Grey opened his hologram and made a quick sketch of who would play who. "It'll be a single elimination."
"Cool, I'm first!" Var spoke up.
"Then I'll play too." Elijah said.
"Never mind." A small whisper came from Var.
"Neither of you are playing. It's Blake versus Darren." Grey informed them.
"Oh."
"Yeah!"
Blake and Darren hopped into two of the pods, loading up the most played game.
Colosseum.
It was a multiplayer fighting game, with no magic allowed, where everyone shared the same physical capabilities, and there were several game modes, such as 1v1, FFA, TDM, and more.
They chose 1v1, and then chose their weapons, before materializing in a colosseum, which was the game's namesake. They took positions, one with a sword, the other holding a mace, and the countdown started.
-3-
"Who do you think will win?" Grey heard Var ask Elijah.
-2-
"Probably Darren. A mace is slow but effective. I've seen Darren move. Boy can dodge. As long as he doesn't get hit, one blow and Blake is out."
-1-
'Blake will lose by the skin of his teeth.' Grey predicted. It would have been a different story had Mana been allowed, or if the participants weren't limited to the same bodily attributes, but in a test of pure skill, Blake was only slightly below Darren. The reason he was ranked 209 compared to Darren at 2nd, was because Darren had more Mana and higher physical capabilities.
-Fight!-
Both Blake and Darren ran toward each other. Blake held his sword, a longsword, with two hands by his side, and Darren held his mace to the side. Then, they clashed.
As Grey watched the fight, his mind wandered back to just 5 minutes ago.
---
/ 5 minutes ago /
"Oh, Aurora," Grey said, a little surprised that she wasn't with the girls. "Do you need something?"
"No, I just came to tell you that the VR pods are all on the second floor."
"Oh, thanks then." Grey beamed her a smile, getting a little reaction, and then ran off. "Before I forget, where will we find you and the other girls?"
"Right now, we're going to play at the claw machine. Hannah found a plushie from her game and really wants it."
"Okay, see you soon."
---
-GG-
The VR pods opened with a flood of air, and Darren and Blake stepped out.
"Damn, Darren, I almost had you."
"Mhm."
"Still not much of a talker, huh."
Elijah came up to Grey and asked, "Who's next?"
"Var and you, of course. There's only 4 of you, so it's only 3 matches to find a winner."
Elijah nodded his head, so Grey leaned in to whisper something to him. After he was done, Elijah turned around with a smile on his face, and Var shuddered.
"You know, I forfeit." He suddenly said.
"No forfeits." Grey chimed in, a similar smile on his face.
---
"Urgh, that was so mean!" Var said.
"It's payback." Grey butted in before Elijah could speak.
Var and Elijah had fought, but instead of killing Var, Elijah incapacitated him, before teabagging. Was it toxic, was it rude? Yes, but it was funny.
"Alright, just Elijah versus Darren left."
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
forener
forener I'm really sorry for missing a chapter yesterday, yesterday, on the 10th. I was sick and couldn't do much else other than sleep. I'm really sorry.
also. I'm a recluse, so I ain't got no clue how social interactions work, I hope this is any sort of normal.
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