Set shook Jet awake violently and said, "Hey Jet, it's time to wake up. Today is the big day, remember?"I've got a plan for when the arcade closes, haha. The problem will be distracting Turbo.
Jet shot up wide-eyed and looked around. So it really wasn't a dream.. This is no good. It's perfect, but it's no good.. "R-right.." He shambled into the kitchen lazily hoping to find something, anything, to eat and settled on cereal.
Set sat across from him at the table with a grin and asked, "So what did Sonny want to talk about?"
"He just wanted to make sure I kept his secret, that's all.." Jet said before realizing it, "His name, I mean. I'm not sure why he doesn't really want his name known." I need to get better at this.
"Oh, pfft," Set said, "Well that's just stupid." And here I thought it would be something juicy.
The arcade opened and for about an hour things went as usual. Plenty of quarter alerts were sent Turbo Time's way.. This was until Litwak dragged in RoadBlasters. He placed it perfectly in view from inside Turbo Time.
"Wow!" the kid watching his friend play Turbo Time said as he saw the new game get flicked on.
The kid playing Turbo Time turned around slowly, hesitant to have his quarter wasted. "New game! Alright!" he said excitedly as he abandoned Turbo Time to watch his friend play the new game.
Turbo looked on with his wide grin for a moment in disbelief. Did they seriously just walk away before even finishing?! What nerve! So there's a new game, big freakin' deal! His face twisted into one of sheer rage as his car stopped as it was meant to during arcade hours with no one at the controls. Set happily passed him up bottling up his laughter as best he could. Jet hesitantly passed him as well. It was his job, after all.
Throughout the day as RoadBlasters became more and more popular with the regulars, Turbo Time's slowly began to fade.
"Dude look at these graphics!"
"This animation is so realistic!"
"Wow, you can shoot them, man!"
"This is way better than Turbo Time!" This last one cut Turbo the deepest.
After a long, still somewhat eventful day, the arcade finally closed.
"This is way better than Turbo Time," Turbo said to himself mockingly, fighting the urge to find something, anything, to take out his anger on.
"T-Turbo calm down, man," Jet said, "Y-you know how it is with new games. We've been through this before, right?" Of course I know how this ends up. I doubt there's much I can do about our popularity. Turbo definitely needs to be kept clear-headed though.
"But this is the first time anyone's ever said that!" Turbo said angrily, "Stay away from me!" Now is not the time for one of your pranks. I'm in no mood, as if I ever am!
Jet clinched his fists. I have to do something, anything.. I only have a few days normally before he would go Turbo.. "So what if they said that?!" he asked in an annoyed tone, "If you let this get to you, how can you say you're the greatest racer ever?! If you don't be careful Set and I will take that title from you if you let yourself get so bent out of shape."
"You?!" Turbo laughed, still enraged, "Don't make me laugh, dead-last. The only thing you'll take is a wall to the face."
"Alright," Jet said as he nodded, trying to keep himself calm, "So let's see.. The arcade is closed. We don't have to worry about putting on a show for the humans. Let's have a race. Just the two of us." There's no way he can avoid a challenge. "The loser has to do whatever the other says."
"Oh ho ho ho!" Turbo said, his mind at least partially off of RoadBlasters for now, "Those are some pretty confident words coming from someone always placing dead-last."
"We'll see.." Jet said. Oh please, I've been racing in Sugar Rush 2. A circular track is nothing in comparison. And I've gotten used to these controls again.
"This looks like it will be interesting," Set said excitedly, "Don't disappoint me, Jet!"
Set moved his car off to the side as Jet and Turbo took their places at the start of the race track, and revved their engines.
"Last chance to back out," Turbo said cockily. I don't know what you're thinking, dead-last, but there's no way I'm about to lose to you.
"3, 2, 1.." Set said as he stood off to the side, "GO!" Both cars took off immediately.
Turbo shot ahead, as he expected, but Jet was slowly creeping up to him.
"No way.." Turbo said as he began taking this a bit more seriously. He shifted into second gear and sped up, Jet doing the same, much to his surprise. What's going on?! He's not usually this fast..
Jet slowly crept up alongside him and glanced at him with a serious look on his face. I've never been so focused in all my life, Turbo. You'd better take this completely seriously. He shifted into third gear and went ahead.
"Oh ho.." Turbo said, a smile slowly forming on his face, "Where do you think you're going?!" He shifted into third gear and eventually recaptured the lead, albeit slightly. It was a close three-lap race, with Turbo winning by just a second or so.
"Oh yeah! Eat it, Jet! Turbo-tastic!" Turbo yelled excitedly as he ran up to him and did the hustle for a moment. I haven't been this excited for a win since..?
"Yeah, well I almost did win," Jet said with a sigh, "I think I've proved my point though, haven't I?"
"And what point would that be, Jet?" Turbo asked while rolling his eyes, not even realizing he called him by name.
"If even I can almost beat you when you're like this.." Jet said, "What's that say about your likelihood of keeping that title you're so proud of? RoadBlasters is here to stay, and the sooner you accept that the better your game performance.. our game performance will be. We don't need you getting distracted, making the players lose even more interest because they can't win."
"Oh, whatever!" Turbo said coming down from his racer's high, "And you still have to do whatever I say." There might be some truth mixed in there.
"Ugh.. Okay, what is it?" Jet said. I wish I hadn't added that stipulation. What will he have me do?
"You are to wax my car for me every day from now on," Turbo said with a smirk, "That's all. Get started." Oh I could do worse. Far worse.. But you put on a good show.
Set burst out laughing and said, "What?! You never let anyone touch your car!" I thank you, Jet. You did real good.
Turbo looked over in shock as Set was standing by Turbo's car dangling a set of keys. My keys! Why did I leave them in the car?! "Give those back here!" He chased Set as the latter ran out into Game Central Station.
"R-ralph," Felix said as he walked up to his new.. dare he say it.. friend. This may be difficult. For a while at least..
"Heya Felix," Ralph said as if they'd been friends for years, "What's up?"
"W-well, I was just thinking that we could go to Tapper's or something," Felix said, "You know, since we're.. friends." We are friends, right?
"Sure thing," Ralph said, "I-I was just getting thirsty myself." He glanced over at Gene who was practically giving him a death glare. "Would you care to join us, Gene?" Since you're oh so worried.
"I think I may just do that," Gene said like an over-protective father would. I've got my eye on you, wrecker.
The three of them started on their way to Tapper's.
"Sorry about all those years, Ralph.." Felix said miserably, "I should have been more considerate of your feelings.." How are you even willing to forgive us for that?
"Oh please," Gene said.
"You are not helping, Gene," Felix chided, "Ralph is one of us and deserves to be treated as such." I am disappointed in you, Gene.
"He wrecks the building!" Gene said defensively, "He wrecks everything!"
"It's my job, Gene," Ralph said in annoyance, "Anything else I wreck is either on accident.." He lowered himself to face Gene. "Or when people continue to make me mad, like you're starting to.." He stood back up. "Of course I'd never hit anyone that didn't deserve it. And not hard enough to hurt them too bad." Well, I'd try not to hurt them that bad anyways..
"C-calm down, you two," Felix said, "Jiminy jaminy! Now the three of us are going to go into Tapper's and have some root beer! I will have no more talk about this, understand?"
Ralph stood there dumbstruck then suddenly laughed and said, "You said it." I gotta thank Jet later. I never thought I'd see the day..
Gene sighed and said, "Fine."
They went into Tapper's, making the entire establishment suddenly go quiet.
"Carry on, everyone," Felix said nervously, eyeing up several others who were already there.
Among the many in Tapper's aside from Tapper himself were Blinky, Pinky, and Inky from Pac-Man, Zangief from the first Street Fighter, and Luke and Obi-Wan from Star Wars.
"Oh look! The perfect place to sit," Felix said nervously as he made his way to the back corner. So many eyes on us. Even on the way in here..
Ralph shrugged and joined him, with Gene glaring for a moment before doing the same. Ralph sat across from Gene and Felix. I normally sit where Felix is sitting, but I'll let him have that chair this time. It feels weird facing this way though. Like that's the only thing weird about all this..
"W-well look at this," Tapper said happily as he passed the three root beers, "I'm happy for you, Ralph."
"..Thanks," Ralph said reluctantly while glancing at Tapper, Felix, and Gene. He rested his head on the palm of his hand, his arm in turn was rested on the counter. He drank half of his root beer in one gulp.
"Really, I am," Tapper said with a nod, "It would be interesting if this starts a new trend, don't you think?" He eyed Felix.
"W-well, that would be nice, wouldn't it?" Felix said with a nervous smile. Are you implying something with that?
"Jet was real concerned about it yesterday," Tapper said knowingly, "Among other things.." I probably shouldn't get too far into it.
"Jet?" Felix asked. Oh, right..
"Yeah," Ralph said, "I told you didn't I? It was Jet's idea in the first place."
"You mean the prankster?" Gene said, "Well no wonder." He rolled his eyes. What are they up to? This can't be good, what if the whole arcade gets dragged into this?
Tapper looked at Gene knowingly and said, "Ralph's a great guy if you get to know him. I'm glad to see you two taking the time to do so." Don't you dare make Ralph mad. Especially not here.
Gene clenched the counter in frustration. Is everyone against me on this? I'm not being unreasonable here. He guzzled down the entirety of his root beer and placed the empty mug down. Prompting Ralph to do the same after finishing his. Felix hadn't even touched his yet.
"I'll go get you some refills," Tapper said with a sigh. So far so good..
"Get back here!" Turbo screamed as he and Set weaved through everyone in Game Central Station.
"Make me, Turdbo!" Set yelled excitedly before running into a game called Blood and Thunder.
Turbo looked at the sign on the gateway for a moment before hesitantly going inside as well. He had to wait for the next train going in.
"I can't believe I let him steal my keys!" Turbo said angrily to himself, "My keys! To my car!" Jet couldn't have been part of this, could he? No.. He didn't seem to know anything about it. I don't need this right now, not with this new game stealing my thunder.. What was this game again? Blood and Thunder? Well my blood is certainly boiling right about now. Where is that stupid train?
The train slowly rolled in. It was decrepit to say the least. It looked as though it were barely holding together. The kind of train you would expect to be haunted. Turbo hesitantly climbed aboard, noting that he was the only one doing so.
"What kind of game is this anyways?" Turbo wondered aloud, "I guess I'm about to find out.. Set you're going to regret doing this when I find you.." Revenge is a dish best served immediately.
Author's Note: Well I hope you're not disappointed with the way this is going so far xD. There will be more going on in later chapters, for now I'm establishing a few characters.