Chapter 1- The Bet

"Quitin' time!" sang Felix as he and the other Nicelanders made their way to the entrance of Niceland to do their daily clean up.

It had been another busy day at Litwak's Arcade, especially since ralph and the other Nicelanders agreed to enable the so-called 'Bonus level' into their game. Now everyone had a chance to contribute to the game and for once, there were no out-of-work characters lost and struggling in GCS.

Everyone was having fun.

Well, except for ONE person.

"Oh Gene!" Mary chirped as she continued to sweep some of the dirt of the steps "I'm glad that you made it back."

The portly Mayor of Niceland tried his best to clean himself but after being blasted out of the window for what felt like the one thousandth time of the day, he needed a bit of a break. He brushes his hair back and cleared his throat as he tried his best to look presentable in front of Mary.

"Y-yes! I wouldn't want to ruin the flow of things here if I wound up missing!" Gene said, cursing to himself that he couldn't think of anything pithy to say in front of Mary.

Mary stepped up to Gene and gave him a peck on the check, "Good! I have a surprise for you later so go clean yourself up and meet me at Tappers at 8!"

Gene was lost in the moment, still feeling the warm of Mary's kiss on his cheek. His normally red cheeks blushed even brighter as he felt himself drift off in his thoughts.

"O-Oh of course! I'll be at Mary's, Tapper! I mean-!"

Mary giggled sweetly as she left for her apartment, leaving the Mayor with the rest of the Niceland residence outside. A smile appeared on Gene's face as his spirits rose.

"I-I really think she likes me!"

"Ooooh, is someone in tha mood for a little kissy-kissy? Mwa-mwa!"

Gene turned just in time to see Norwood smiling at him smugly. Turning even more red in the face, Gene glared at his friend, huffing as he straightened out his tie.

"Honestly, Norwood! MUST you act so crass?"

"Now come on Genie! We've been friends for, what, 30 years? You'd think I know when my best buddy is flirting with the BEST baker in Niceland!" Norwood said cheekily as he put his arm around Gene, the man blushing even brighter than before.

"First of all, NORWOOD…" the mayor said gruffly as he took the red-head's arm off his shoulder "While I will admit that I do….I do have some fEE-lings for Ma-RY!"

Gene's voice broke in the middle of his words, causing the mayor to clear his throat again, sniffing condemningly "While I DO have the UPMOST of respect for Ms. Mary, one cannot go about throwing around their feelings as they were nothing! Love doesn't work that way!"

"It seemed to work for Felix…." Norwood said, pointing back to the repair man who was now being held warmly in the arms of his wife.

Gene couldn't help but feel a knot form in his stomach as he looked at the sight; seeing Felix and Calhoun together? As much as he hated to admit it, he was jealous. Not jealous that Felix had found another person to love but rather that Felix had the courage to actually TELL the woman he loved how he felt about her.

He couldn't lie to himself; Gene loved Mary. He had loved Mary since the first year they were plugged in but thanks to both his shyness and stubbornness, he couldn't find the nerve to tell her how he REALLY felt about her. So year after year, Gene tried his best to surround himself with the others in order to get close to her. Of course, being the Mayor only helped but over the past 30 years he just couldn't will up the courage to tell her.

Oh no, he had the courage to hate Ralph for 30 years but as soon as Mary entered the room, he turned into mush.

The irony.

Gene gave Norwood an annoyed look, rolling his eyes as he entered the apartments "Honestly Norwood, we're not all heroes like Felix."

"Ya don't HAFTA be a hero like Felix to tell a girl you like them!" Norwood called back "Ya just hafta have the right amount of guts and, as much as I hate to say, you DO have more guts than most of us!"

"HEY NEL! I THINK NORWOOD HAS SOMETHING TO TELL YOU." Gene yelled from the atrium of the apartment.

"What does Norwood have to tell me?" asked the little Nicelander as she approached her neighbor.

"GAH! NEL!" shouted Norwood, turning almost as red as his hair.

"What, Gene said you had something to say. What is it?"

Norwood turned back to Gene, giving him a glare that could kill. Gene could only snicker at the man as he pushed the button to the elevator.

"Like you said, you just have to have the right amount of guts!"

"Here's to another successful day at work!" Ralph said happily as he tapped glasses with Felix.

"I hear ya brother!" replied Felix as he took a sip of his root beer "Man, I've never seen us so busy! I'm startin' to worry if I can move fast enough for the kids!"

"Just keep eatin' those Turbo Pies an' ya shouldn't have any problem!" chuckled Ralph "Mary an' the rest keeps 'em comin' out faster than I can wreck!"

Mary blushed a bit as she looked at Ralph, "Aw, come on Ralph! My pies aren't THAT good!"

"I beg to differ…." Said a calm voice from behind the woman.

Mary turned around to see Gene standing before her, a rather suave look on his face.

"Oh, Gene! Thank goodness you're here!" the woman said brightly as she moved over to make room for him to sit next to her.

"It isn't the behavior of a gentleman to leave their lady waiting like that!" Gene said, taking a seat next to Mary.

Despite the rather proud look he wore on his face, Gene was horribly nervous on the inside.

"Just stay cool. Stay calm. It's not like she's going to BITE you!" Gene said to himself "But there was that one time according to our backstory that we fought when we were three and she DID bite my hand and-!"

"Gene? Gene, are you okay?" asked Mary, giggling a bit once she saw that Gene was spacing out a bit.

"Oh-oh! Yes! Dear!" Gene replied sheepishly, clearing his throat "What were you going to say?"

"What I was going to say was….well, I just wanted to thank you."

Gene blinked in surprised, "Thank me? Thank me for what?"

To his shock, Mary took Gene's hands gently into her own, holding them warmly "I wanted to thank you for always being there for me."

Gene's face began to break from its usually calm form as it glowed red "It-it-it's just what a Mayor does!"

"No, no, no….Not as mayor…." Mary said, her own cheeks blushing "As…well, just as yourself."

"I-I don't think I understand…." Gene said, his voice coming out in a little squeak.

"Don't act like I haven't noticed the way you always run up to me whenever there's trouble! During the first sign of disaster, who do you run to first? Me! When something fun is going on, who do you ask to go first? Me! You can't hide a lot from THIS girl, Genie!"

Gene let out a sheepish chuckle as he rubbed the back of his neck. He was at a complete lost for words; he thought that his previous plans were fool-proof! How could Mary figure out what he was doing?

Then again, he did have to admit that when it came to secrets, there were just some things he couldn't hide from Mary.

The woman reached into her hand bag and pulled out a little box.

"I thought….well, I thought after all the abuse it's been through, you'd like this back."

Gene was a little confused. He took the box from Mary's hands and opened it, his eyes widening as soon as he did.

"Mary!"

The woman smiled cutely at the mayor, "I knew you'd be surprised!"

Inside the box was a pocket watch. Gene instantly recognized it as the one he had been programed with but due to all the bonus levels he had gone through over the past few months, he had lost it. He remembered being so frantic when he found that it had fell from his pocket and how much he went about searching for it. He had no idea that Mary of all people had it in her possession.

"Where did you-?!"

"I actually found it over by the grill! It was a little beat up so Felix and I decided to fix it up for you!"

"W-well, thank you!" Gene said, a bright smile on his face as he prepared to put it in his pocket but as he did, Mary stopped him.

"Ah, ah, ah! Don't put it away yet. Look inside of it!"

Gene opened the latch of the pocket watch, only to find an inscription written on the inside.

"Thank you for always being there for me. Love…." Gene had to stop once he said the word, a lump forming in his throat "Love Mary."

Gene looked over at Mary, giving the woman a look she rarely saw. He was happy.

No, happy wasn't strong enough to describe what he was feeling.

He was touched by the single gift that Mary had given him. The woman could see the brightness in his blue eyes and he bit his lip, trying to fight back the love-struck grin that was forming on his face.

"Th-thank you…" Gene said.

Mary then moved closer and hugged the mayor tightly, "You're welcome Big Gene!"

Gene wanted this moment to last forever. He had never been so happy in his life just to be around Mary like this. He was once again becoming lost in his thoughts but the sound of snickering in front of him broke him out of his stupor. There before him sat Ralph, Felix, and Calhoun. Ralph chuckled deeply as he turned and took another swig from his mug. Felix on the other hand looked so enamored Gene could have sworn that he was floating off of his chair. Calhoun could only give the mayor a nod, as if to tell him he were a lucky man.

Gene blinked twice as he felt his chubby cheeks turning red again, gently pulling away from the hug as he looked at Mary again.

"A-a-a-a-as I said Mary, th-thank you for the gift!" the mayor stuttered as he placed the watch in his pocket "I will always treasure this…."

"Just make sure you put it some place where ya won't lose it!" Mary said with a giggle as she got off her chair and left to join the rest of the Nicelander ladies on the other side of the bar, but not before giving Gene another kiss on the cheek.

At this point, Gene didn't care WHO was looking at him; he was in so much love.

"Aw, love always brings out the best in people!" Felix sighed as he looked at Gene with a dreamy look on his face.

"How can you STAND this?" asked Ralph with a snicker.

"Hey, what can I say? I like sweet men!" winked Calhoun as she placed a hand on Felix's head.

"Yo, Gene!" Ralph called, trying to get the mayor's attention.

The little Nicelander finally snapped to as he looked towards Ralph, a little surprised to see him smiling at him.

"Yes?"

"Come over here for a sec!"

Gene jumped from his seat and joined the other three, trying his best to regain his dignified composer but he was of course losing the battle; his cheeks were still bright red and there was a love-struck smile on his face.

"Yes, Ralph. Is there something you need?"

"Aw come on Big Gene, drop the pretentiousness and let lose a little! We just saw you floating on cloud nine back there with Mary!"

Gene sniffed as he straightened his jacket, "Well, Ralph, Unlike YOU, I have a reputation to uphold. I can't just show up somewhere and act as happy and cheerful as Felix!"

"Pssst, bull-donkey!" laughed Calhoun as she rolled her eyes "Gene, I'd hate to break it to ya, but you're just one of a crap load of 'leaders' in this arcade and even they don't take their roles THAT seriously! You're going to give yourself an ulcer if you keep acting so uptight!"

Gene grumbled as he leaned on the counter, "Who says I HAVEN'T?"

Calhoun was a might taken aback; Gene was SERIOUS.

"Oh…well….." the sergeant replied, a little embarrassed at the response.

"As much as I hate to admit it….Ralph and Tammy ARE right Genie…" Felix said meekly, rubbing the back of his head.

Gene made a turn towards Felix, looking both stunned and a bit annoyed "What!? Are you telling me that you think being TOO serious with my job?!"

The other three turned away, rolling their eyes and whistling. Gene grumbled again, his mustache twitching as it always did whenever he was peeved.

"Oh. I SEEEEE. I figured that Ralph and Sgt. Calhoun wouldn't take me seriously, no offense ma'am."

"None taken…."

"But FELIX?! Even YOU?!"

"Weeeeeell…." Said Felix, trying his best to figure out how to tell Gene the news gently "It's just…well….I mean, I have a lot of respect for you sir since technically, you are my superior in both age and job title but….I mean…."

Gene scooted closer to Felix, his eyes looking deep into him, "Felix. TELL ME."

That tone.

No one could say no to THAT.

"Aw come on Gene! You're like a foot tall marshmallow! Yeah, you can lead us rather well but you're still a cute-!"

"Don't say it, Felix!" Gene said angrily.

"A cute, little-!"

"FELIX JR., STOP!"

"A cute little character who should relax a bit more!"

Gene gave the trio before him a look as if he had been shot in the heart.

"WHAT?!"

"Now, I'm not complain' about what you've done but-!"

"But it's kinda hard to take someone seriously when they're blasted out of the window on a daily basis…." Chuckled Ralph as he took another sip of his root beer.

"OKAY, I HEARD THAT!" Gene said as he leapt on the table, grabbing onto Ralph's remaining overall strap "I thought we both AGREED that we wouldn't mock each other for our JOBS but I can see that THAT promise is out the window!"

Calhoun nearly choked on her root beer as she heard what Gene said.

Surly he thought that sounded better in his head.

"Gene! Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Ralph said as he easily plucked Gene off the table "Calm down before you strain something buddy!"

Gene kicked his little legs furiously as Ralph held him, "GET YOUR PAWS OFFA ME, RALPH! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!"

"An' ya gotta do somethin' about that tempter of yours Genie!" Ralph chuckled as he placed Gene back on his seat.

The three looked at Gene as he continued to pout, huffing as he crossed his arms.

"Come on Genie, can't ya relax for a SECOND in your life?" asked Felix.

"That doesn't require copious amounts of alcohol?" snickered Calhoun as she gave a wink to Ralph.

"OF COURSE I CAN!" bellowed Gene, his entire face red now.

Felix jumped back but by now he had had it with Gene.

"Mayor Gene, I'm your friend but I have to put my foot down somewhere and this time, I'm doin' it for you!"

"What in the ARCADE are you talking about Felix?!" Gene said, rubbing his temples.

"What I'm saying is that starting RIGHT NOW, you sir are going on a vacation!"

Gene gave Felix an unimpressed look.

"Felix? We're still on the clock for tomorrow and I STILL have to show up to be THROWN and BLOWN OUT of the window."

"Did I say anything about a trip? What I MEANT was, you're taking a vacation from your anger! I want you to learn how to control that temper of yours before you make yourself sick!"

Gene rolled his eyes as he huffed, "And WHERE do you expect me to go to do THAT?!"

"I dunno! Why don't you go with Mary to Street Fighter were she takes yoga lessons from Dhalsim? I'm sure HE could help!"

"THOSE brutes?! I wouldn't last a DAY! AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN MARY TAKES YOGA LESSONS FROM DHALSIM?! WHY DIDN'T I KNOW ABOUT THIS?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?! YOU-!?"

And with that, Calhoun shoved a large pretzel and Gene's mouth.

"MPPPH!?"

"Settle down, blue boy." Calhoun said with a gentle grin; she meant nothing by it but she just couldn't stand it when Gene started rambling in anger.

Gene glared at Calhoun but munched on the pretzel anyway, his most common reaction to anything that bothered him.

Felix rubbed his forehead as he gave a heavy sigh, "See Gene? You're always yellin' an' screamin'! Ya need ta take a break from that or somethin'!"

"Aw forget it, Felix! Ya know Gene is INCAPABLE of staying happy for more than five minuets. I mean, unless he's given food or booze."

"Mpph?! What was that?!" Gene said, finishing off his pretzel.

"SEE? Food's gone, he's back!" Ralph said, thumbing over to Gene, not seeing just how angry the man was at this point.

"I'll have you know that I am FULLY capable of keeping a sunny disposition for more than 30 seconds!" Gene bellowed as he got into Ralph's face, their noses touching.

"Oh yeah?" Ralph said smugly, "Prove it."

"I-I will!"

Gene then sat back on his stool, his arms crossed as he kept his gaze away from the other three.

15 seconds~

"Hey Gene?"

"WHAT?!"

"See, I told ya!" Ralph said as he threw up his hands.

"THAT WAS CHEATING!"

"GENE." Said Calhoun, a little stunned to see just how hot-headed the tiny man was.

Gene looked back at the faces before him, a feeling of dread coming over him. For a moment, his anger began to dip and he realized that he had indeed let his anger get the better of him. He then looked off to the side, seeing a few of the other arcade characters making quick glances at him before turning around, laughing under their breath.

Was this a way a mayor goes about behaving?

Of course not!

Gene once again sniffed, straightening his jacket as he gave Ralph a quick look.

"Okay big guy. If there's one thing we both have in common, its making bets."

"Yeah?" Ralph said as he arched his eyebrows.

"How about this? If I can keep my temper in check for….say, a day, will you PLEASE get off my case?"

Ralph snorted a laugh, "A DAY? Gene, I thought you were BIGGER than that!"

Gene's cheeks flushed red again, "WHAT ARE YOU IMPYING?!"

"Geeeene?"

"Okay, you want something better?! How about two days!"

"Mmn-mmn." Ralph shook his head.

"Three?" Gene said, crossing his arms.

"BIGGER, Gene!"

"A week!" Gene said, looking a bit panicked as the words flew from his mouth.

"That sounds about right!" Calhoun said as she shook her head "Not just for this bet, but just for you to clear your thoughts! Even my men know it's not best to go out on the battle field ANGRY!"

Gene took a few deep breaths as he let the bet settle into his head.

He could do this.

He KNEW he could do this!

This was no problem at all.

"Well Ralph, I will take your bet! I will go a week without getting angry! If I win, will you guys just GET OFF MY CASE?"

"And if WE win?" Ralph said, a smug grin coming on his face.

Gene thought for a second, rubbing his chin.

"Well, what do you-?" Gene's eyes widened in horror once he realized what Ralph wanted "NO! NOT THAT PLEASE! I JUST MADE THEM AND I'M SAVING THEM FOR A SPECIAL OCCASION!"

"Ya know EXACTLY what I want! All FOUR bottles of your special gummie-bear infused vodka!"

"But Ralph! This is the first batch that actually came out GOOD! You know how long it takes me to get it just right!"

"Those are the rules Big G! Can't back out of it now!"

Gene cursed to himself as he clutched his little fist but after a second, he calmed himself. His composure back, the Nicelander held out a hand towards the wrecker.

"Shake?"

"Shake." Ralph smiled as he gently shook Gene's hands.

"It's nice to know that you're giving me a sporting chance!" Gene said as he straightened his tie "But as you know, I NEVER go back on a bet! So don't except me to-NYAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

Too bad no one warned Gene that because he was still standing on the counter top, he was teetering close to the edge.

"Gene? Gene? Ya alright Gene?" Felix said as he looked over on the floor, seeing Gene laying on his back, an unamused look on his face.

Gene let out a groan as he grabbed his stomach, "URGH! MY ULCER!"

"I didn't know Nicelanders bounced…" Calhoun said.