I am going on vacation with my family next week, and I don't think I'll be able to get the next chapter out until the week after, but mark my words...

I will have the next chapter out by October 22.

Okay, story time.

...

Chapter 11: Arcade Mania

Keith and his fellow Paladins were on a mission in a cave deep underground. It was a mission to find a monster that had been drilling holes in the cave, making the ground above unstable. This was making sinkholes pop up, and it was putting people in danger. The problem was, the Paladins didn't realize, that the ground of the cave was unstable as well. Everyone was shocked when Keith suddenly dropped into a sinkhole that opened up under him.

He would have fallen to his death if it weren't for Blue diving down after him and catching him. She set him on the ground. "You okay?" she asked. Keith nodded. They were inside a giant room they had not spotted before. A huge monster was in it.

It looked like a giant rock with tentacles and a large drill on the bottom. It had similar, smaller drills all over its body, which it began to launch at Blue and Keith. Blue pushed Keith out of the way, while expertly dodging the small spikes.

Shiro and Hunk landed next to him. Shiro had his gauntlet out. "Get Keith to safety." he ordered Hunk. Hunk picked Keith off the ground and carried him away.

"What about Blue?" Keith asked. Hunk smiled. "She'll be fine." And she was fine. As the monster swung its tentacles at her, she dodged them easily. Blue hopped on top of one of the tentacles, and ran up it before sliding down it towards the monster's drill. The drill broke apart, revealing smaller tentacles. They swatted at Blue, but she sliced at them with her scythe. She spun the scythe in a large circle like helicopter blades before punching up suddenly into the center of the tentacles.

The monster exploded into dust, and Blue emerged from the cloud carrying a bubble.

"The little ones are drilling away!" Shiro pointed towards the parasites. Hunk smiled. "I got it." he said happily, diving into one of the holes. He got lodged in the ground, just his legs unbound by the dirt. "Let them go. If they want to be a problem, they can take it up with me." Blue interrupted. She touched the top of her bubble, sending it away.

Blue walked over to Hunk and pulled him out of the ground by the legs.

"I swallowed a rock." he whined.

...

"Where are we going, exactly?" Shiro asked. Keith smiled. "You guys worked hard, and you deserve a break." he answered. About twenty minutes of walking later, they arrived at Funland Arcade.

"Don't you need money for this place?" Hunk questioned. Keith the three Paladins each a small bag. "There's about five dollars worth of quarters in there, so don't loose it." Keith instructed. He walked his fellow Paladins over to the first game. It was one of those simulation games where you sit in a chair and moves some handles next to you to drive. "This is called Space Race. Just fly the rocket through the asteroid field without blowing up." Keith explained. "It'll be great for you, Shiro."

Shiro looked between Keith and the game. He really didn't want to be here, but Keith was counting on him. "Okay." Shiro agreed. He put a couple of quarters in, hopped in the seat, and started playing.

After getting Shiro settled, the Paladins made their way over to Skee-Ball. "If you do good," Keith told Hunk, "you get tickets, which you can use to get prizes." Keith pointed to the prize stand. A teenager behind the desk took a bunch of tickets from a kid, and handed him a gigantic prize. A drone. Hunk let out a little gasp. He instantly put in two quarters, and started playing.

...

Keith wasn't sure what game Blue would want to play. "How about you try this one?" he suggested, walking up to one of those classic arcade fighting games. It had a joystick for moving, and buttons for jumping, punching, and kicking. It was called Street Fighterz. "Here, pick a character." Keith instructed. Blue picked a ninja and fairy wings.

"Fairy Ninja? Nice. I think his special move is jump, hit, kick, jump back, forward kick, jump kick..." Keith trailed off, forgetting the rest. "Just punch, and you'll do fine." he finished. The first level started, and the game gave a little, "BEGIN!"

Blue assessed her opponent for a second, before punching the game's screen. Her fist went straight through the glass, and the game sparked. She pulled her hand back out. "I did it." she said proudly.

Keith mouth was hanging open. "We should go." he said, grabbing her hand, and yanking her along.

...

"This game doesn't have any violence." Keith said. He brought Blue up to a mariachi-themed game that had a title Keith had no hope of pronouncing. It was at least twice the size of all the other games, and was at the very front of the arcade. "Just shake the maracas to the beat." Keith instructed, handing her the instruments.

A little mariachi player appeared on screen, and pointed in the direction Blue was supposed to point the maracas. Keith smiled. Blue looked like she was having fun.

"I'm going to go check on Hunk and Shiro." he said, leaving Blue to her game.

Keith went back over to Shiro first. He was moving quickly, yanking the joysticks back and forth. "You okay, Shiro?" Keith asked.

Shiro shushed him. "I'm the zone." he said, not taking his eyes off the screen. Keith nodded, understanding completely. He went to check on Hunk.

Hunk had climbed on top of the Skee-Ball game, and was throwing the balls directly into the holes. For every ball that went in, he got more and more tickets. "Hunk! What are you doing?" Keith demanded. Hunk looked at Keith, a large smile on his face. "I'm going to win a drone!" he said innocently.

"That's cheating!" Keith said, jaw clenched. He ran over and grabbed Hunk by his arm. "You're going to get us in trouble." he scolded. "HEY!" an authoritative voice called out.

The two turned towards the man. It was the owner, Iverson. "Do you know what happened to Street Fighterz?"

Keith yanked Hunk bye his arm. "Nope!" He ran over to Space Race. "We got to go!" He yanked Shiro's arm, dragging both him and Hunk along. Space Race buzzed. "Game over..." Shiro groaned. "So close." he whispered.

The Paladins made their way to the exit. "Blue, we're leaving." Keith called out over his shoulder. Blue didn't respond, still immersed in the music game. Keith was going to grab her and drag her along to, but Iverson came around the towards them, an angry look on his face. Keith paled. "See you at home!" he called out to her.

...

"So what's today's mission?" Keith asked the next morning. He and his fellow Paladins were at the kitchen table. Shiro was ready The Daily Garrison, Hunk was messing around with an old clock, and Keith was eating some Honey Loops for breakfast. Shiro looked up from his newspaper. "Nothing for today." he said. Keith nodded, and went back to his bowl.

After twenty seconds of awkward silence, Keith spoke again. "Where's Blue?" he asked. Hunk shrugged. "She goes off on adventures by herself all the time. So, wherever she is, it's probably important." he answered.

Keith nodded. He swallowed his last mouthful of Honey Loops, and put his bowl in the sink. "I'm going beach combing." he told his friends. He grabbed his metal detector.

"Okay. Have fun." Shiro said absentmindedly.

...

After hours of nothing but pennies, nickels, and old hubcaps (that one gad been a letdown) Keith finally stumbled upon a quarter. It was big, and shiny, and definitely not worth the wait.

Still, Keith pocketed it, and continued his search. He found another one by the cliffs next to Garrison. But as he reached to pick it up, something wrapped around his hand. It almost looked like a star fish. Keith reacted like anyone else would in this situation, and shrieked like a little girl while flailing his arm around.

He eventually managed to fling the starfish off his hand, and it flew up into the air. Keith realized, then, that it was not a starfish, but the little pieces of the monster from earlier. And it wasn't alone. Suddenly, several more of the parasites joined the first one, and they switched into little drills.

The drills flew straight at Keith. He swung at them with his metal detector, but it did nothing. Dozens of the little drills appeared. They moved towards him, ready to rip him to shreds. But Shiro sliced right through the ones coming at Keith. "Keith, go find Blue." he instructed the youngest Paladin. "We'll need her help."

Keith nodded. I know exactly where she is.

...

Keith ran into the arcade. "Blue!" he yelled. It failed to gain her attention. She was laser focused on the game in front of her. To be honest, Keith was impressed. As far as he knew, no one had ever made it that far in the game. But there was no time to waste.

"Blue!" Keith said forcefully. She still didn't respond. Keith let out a frustrated growl. He had to get her to help! Why wouldn't she answer? Keith grabbed on tight to her waist, and hoisted himself up. He slowly made his way up her body, eventually finding himself sitting on her shoulders. He waved his hand in front of her face. Still no response.

"What's wrong with you?" Keith asked. He parted her bangs, and looked directly into her eyes. The two lower eyes were staring straight ahead, the normal yellow color, but the third one on her forehead was moving around, constantly changing color. "She's gone full gamer." he realized.

He slid off her back, and ran over to the outlet. He grabbed the game's plug, and jerked it out. The screen went dark, and the music stopped. Blue stared blankly ahead for a moment, before throwing the maracas up in the air, and walking up to the game. She put her hands on the screen. Her hands glowed a soft, light blue, and the game lit up again. She caught the maracas, and moved them around, picking up right were she had left off.

Keith let out a frustrated growl, and pulled out two quarters. "Fine." he said decisively. "If you won't snap out of it."

"New player!" the game chimed. Keith picked up another set a maracas, and started shaking them around to match the screen. Eventually, though, he could no longer keep up with the beat, and he lost. He put in a couple more quarters. This was his last chance. He would save his friends. He could hear Hunk and Shiro fighting off the drills, and it motivated him further.

He shook the maracas around like there was no tomorrow. But once again he lost, and now he was out of quarters. "Blue, snap out of it!" Keith yelled. Her bangs were still parted, and she looked on at the screen, unconcerned.

Keith felt his anger spike. He walked over to the game, and stared directly into the screen. He punched straight through it, causing a shower of glass and sparks.

Blue closed her eyes, and put a hand to her temple."Keith." she said, voice full of concern. When she opened her eyes, they trailed down to Keith. "You beat it." she said proudly. She took the hand that had been on her temple, and snapped it down. Her bangs fell in front of her eyes again, and she ran out to help her friends fight.

...

Keith had wanted to help with the fighting too, but Iverson hadn't caught him.