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… School.
Heya folks it's Watermalone here, officially dreading the New Year! Oh.. and I have a new installment of Ripples as well…
*cough* Reviews! *cough*
Especially special regards to EVAunit42: Haha I'm really not awesome. Seriously, you have so many projects that you must attend to, I'll gladly appreciate the thought and let you carry on. As for the chapter, it was sorta rushed in terms of dialogue and plot, but I had long planned the reverse where Marco leaves instead of Star, and tried to work that into his first Christmas back home, but I'm happy you liked it nonetheless!
Smitty Theories: Yes it was too cheesy, but what can I say? The holiday spirit got me good. And yes, you appear to understand the main concept of each chapter, Internet Holmes, however, without revealing too much, I must say I'm concerned with a more… three dimensional approach for the future. And don't worry, that chapter had more than enough "cheese" to go around!
SonicELITE: Woah. You changed your username! Haha alright well anyways, glad you enjoyed the chapter, I tried to make the story relatable. And thanks to you too Jacob!
totallyobsessedwithSVTFOE: Awww, thanks!
Lupus Boulevard: Yes, it was super cheesy, I know. And I admit it was a bit spoilery that they end up together, but before that deters you, I must remind you that the status of a relationship means little compared to the lifetime of experiences with your soulmate. With that in mind, I'll try to keep the good times rollin'!
Alright, enough chatter, synopsis time!
Synopsis: (Grade 5) Marco receives a video game as a Christmas present from his family and tries to teach a reluctant Star how to play.
ONE FINAL DETAIL! I have an important notice concerning the future of this project at the end of this chapter, please, please, please read it over and let me know your thoughts if you get the chance, it would be most appreciated. And I'll give you a virtual cookie. (Virtual Cookie may be subjected to false advertisement)
Good? Good. Without further ado, I present my fifth installment of Ripples. For the record, italicised print outside of quotation marks indicates what Star's thinking. Hope you all enjoy!
.ti ot detaler gnihtyna ro EOFTVS nwo t'nod I (That's a disclaimer if I ever saw one!)
"Seeing him talk like that, it makes me happy. I guess that must be what it's like to feel so wanted."
"... to do a triple kick flip combo finisher!"
Hm? Did he say something?
"So, did you get all that?"
Uh oh. Hurry, say something quick!
"O-ok, I think I get it…"
Marco's head tilted to the side. "You weren't listening, were you?"
Um… Lie! That's it! Just say the last thing you heard and…
"Of course I was! You said if you press 'those' buttons in 'that' order you can do a… a…"
Shoot. What was it again? Triple… killing… fighting… finisher? Something of the sort, right?
"A multi hit mega punch finisher?" Marco finished.
"Y-yes!" Star stammered. "That was totally what I was going to say!"
His eyes narrowed. "Aha! So you weren't paying attention after all!"
Star felt taken aback. Darn it! How'd he know?
"That one is initiated with the combination: A+B+L+Down+A, and with a completely different character." Marco answered flatly.
Star sighed. For the past few hours, Marco had been attempting to convince her of trying the brand new video game he got as a Christmas present, but she just couldn't get the hang of it. Playing games simply wasn't her thing, and it felt like it would never be at this rate.
"Sorry, sorry, I've just… never played any video games before. Can you just go easy on me?"
Now that was a foreign concept to Marco. Go easy on an opponent? Never! One must always show no mercy to those who wish to learn! That was the way Sensei taught him, after all.
But, this was her first time. It would've been quite the long shot for any foes to show him any compassion during his first few bouts.
"Here. Take this controller," Marco said shoving the mass of plastic buttons and joysticks alike into her grasp, "remember the basic controls, and do your best."
"Hmph." Star took the controller begrudgingly. If he wasn't going to show her any mercy, then she was just going to try twice as hard!
Needless to say, she was beat within a matter of seconds.
It all happened so fast! A flurry of kicks and punches on the television, the screen flashing so violently it practically induced shock instantaneously in her unaware mind, and then…
"K-O, KNOCKOUT!"
Star's jaw dropped. She hadn't even had a sliver of a chance to realize what was going on before it had ended.
"Player one, wins!"
Marco folded his arms, staring back at her, eyes now filled with pride at proving his point.
"See? That's why you pay attention!"
Star shook her head. No! This wasn't over. It may have just been a pointless video game, but she wasn't going to let him best her!
"Again."
Marco was shocked. Again? Hadn't she learned her lesson? Was she still not willing to listen even after such a crushing defeat?
"Wh-what?"
She turned to face him, eyes ablaze in fury.
"You heard me, Diaz, AGAIN!"
Utterly shocked by this sudden change in attitude, he reset the match as quickly as possible, ready for round two.
A series of painfully bright and explosive looking animations later…
"Player one, wins!"
This had Star fuming.
"AGAIN!"
Twenty seconds passed.
"Player one, wins!"
"AGAAAIN!"
Twenty-two seconds.
"A-GAIN!"
Thirty seconds.
"AGAIN!"
Thirty-seven seconds.
"AGAIN, AGAIN, AGAIN!"
Fifty seconds.
"A-"
"STAR!" Marco shouted, slapping his palm over her mouth. "I think we're done here!"
Star thrust his arm away from her face. "NO! NOT UNTIL. I. WIN."
She was well beyond reasoning, he could tell. What was he to do? Keep beating her until she finally gave up? No, she would go berserk long before that could ever happen and…
He took a quick glance at her fiery expression and recoiled in fear.
And that would be terrifying, to say the least.
Let her win? But what would that prove? Winning is deserved and if she wasn't willing to listen, then how could she demand a win from that?
"Reset the stupid match Marco, or so help me I'll A+B+L+Down+A on your face!"
That gave Marco a brilliant idea.
Mashing buttons on his controller, he quickly reset the match, but with a few minor changes.
"Huh? Who's this guy?"
"It's not a huge difference, just a character I thought you'd like better." Marco replied slyly.
What's he playing at? She wondered silently to herself. This character sure seemed more menacing than the last; complete with boxing gloves, a downright unrealistic 10-pack of abs, very long hair, and an eye patch.
"Ready.." The announcer voice called from the television.
"FIGHT!"
As soon as the fake bell soundtrack played, Star began crunching the buttons and flicking the joysticks in wild directions, just as she did before.
But this time, it was different. Watching her character react to each button press seemed to feel more natural as opposed to the last character she had struggled with.
Dodging blows struck by Marco's character left and right, she expertly drove a high uppercut sending the opponent flying across the stage, only to dive head first at the dazed contender with extreme ferocity and slam a powerful fist to the ground, (unrealistically, again) knocking the enemy upwards into the air, completely helpless.
I'm doing it. I'm doing it! She gleefully exclaimed in her mind. But this was no time to rejoice, no. It was time to finish him!
Flawlessly recalling the correct order, Star mimicked the sequence perfectly onto the handheld controller.
A+B+L+Down+A
A bright and flashy animation took over the screen, displaying an obnoxious amount of screaming from the fictional characters, and an equally obnoxious amount of squealing from Star herself as she watched with heart's content, the health bar of her opposition drain dramatically until it was completely empty.
"K-O, KNOCKOUT!"
She had won.
"Player two, wins!"
I won!
Even Marco was quite surprised, only managing to eke out a rather smug grin.
"Hm. Congrats Star, looks like you didn't need my help after all."
Star turned to face her best friend. "And you know what the best part is?"
"What?"
"I beat you SO BAD!" As if on cue, she jumped up with such excitement and energy, dancing wildly around his room, all while taunting him.
"I BEAT MAARCO, I BEAT MAAARCO, NYAH-NYAH NYAH NYAH-NYAAAH!"
Perhaps it was a bit over-the-top, her celebration, but Marco simply sat back and let her dance away, inconspicuously resetting the match once more, this time placing the difficulty of the computer character that she had actually defeated to be level two this time.
"Mhm, well when you're done, 'Your Graciousness', with that lame excuse you call a victory dance, I'll be over here waiting for round two."
"Oh you are so on, Diaz!" She called back, rushing across the room towards her seat with fierce determination emblazoned in her eyes.
Okay, so maybe it was unfair to trick her into pretending she had beat him, taking advantage of both her lack of knowledge about the menu options along with her ignorance due to blind anger, but this was the only way for her to learn. Not to mention, she appeared so happy when she won. It was almost… cute… seeing her like that.
"Ready…"
Marco readied his controller, prepared to 'play'.
"FIGHT!"
And he began uselessly mashing buttons away again, as though he had been part of the fight at all.
Casting a quick glance to his side, he watched as Star furiously stabbed at the controller in her hands, intent on creating an immaculate repertoire of random key presses and responsive arm flailing.
It made him feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside, seeing her with such dire interest in the little things he enjoyed, despite how crazed she could be. But at the same time, it was all he ever really wanted.
Star screamed in delight at her second victory. "WOOHOO! I BEAT YOU AGAIN!"
"Player two, wins!"
A player two, he smiled at the thought. That was truly all he ever wanted.
And there you have it! Installment five is complete!
As you could no doubt tell, this chapter was certainly a lot shorter and a bit more light-hearted than lots of my chapters. On a bit of a side note here, I've realized that an increasing amount of my recent chapters have been rather too serious for my liking. With that said, I have decided to begin to write more silly chapters such as this one to lighten the mood and counterbalance the air of angst.
Due to the influx of serious chapters, I've decided that I may have to take a short break from writing for a while in order to gain some buffer which I lost during my winter holidays where I must shamefully admit I lazed away.
(ACTUAL IMPORTANT STUFF TO READ BELOW)
This leads me to my final point. I'm considering taking requests if you good folks have any. However I've certainly never done this sort of thing and I would like to ask you, the reader, on your opinion regarding this matter. If you would like for me to take requests then give it a thumbs up and leave one in the reviews section (I promise to give you full credit for your suggestion). If not, then I respect that as well and will make a full informed decision prior to my next update.
Thanks, and as always, reviews and comments are deeply appreciated. Bearing in mind my next update will come in a much later date, I hope to hear from lots of you guys soon, and I'll see you all in whatever my sixth installment may be!
