It was his first trip into the student union arcade. A nice shiny
Soul Calibur 2 machine was there. Aiden was happy that there was a fighting
game in the arcade. He had rented Soul Calibur 2 on a recommendation from a
friend and had enjoyed it. The controls were nice and it was simple to
learn. He'd taken a liking to Taki, and her bustiness. But she was fast,
and that's what mattered. He put his two quarters in the machine and went
straight to arcade mode, selected his Taki and started fighting.
The first round proved no challenge, as always. After a few more rounds he'd gotten into a rhythm and he noticed that a girl was watching him play. Huh, he thought, smirking. She must want to flirt with me or is really impressed. I'd better play hard and really show off. As soon as he thought that, he lost his first round. He didn't know if he'd really heard it, but he could swear the girl had snickered a bit. She was short and cute. Cute meaning she wasn't what one would exactly call hot, but she wasn't unattractive. She wasn't too thin and it was obvious that her thinness came from her petite bone structure. She certainly as hell didn't starve herself as she was eating a nice greasy personal size pepperoni pizza and he could see a nice big soda cup on the ground beside her. She had short blonde hair and friendly green eyes. She took a sip of her soda, came closer and set both soda and pizza box on the ground. She wrapped her left hand around the control stick and settled her right fingers on the buttons. She tapped them playfully and said, "You've got a good Taki, but you need to work on your focus. You're still pretty green. Have you played against a human opponent?"
"Well...my friends..."
"A human opponent that you don't know," she clarified placing her own quarters in the machine.
"You play?"
"Yeah. Got a problem?" she said, pressing start and selecting Raphael.
Aiden was by far no expert, but he'd heard many a "Raphael Sucks" rant. He'd also tried playing as the blond fencer, and hadn't had an easy go of it. Taki wasn't any easier, but at least she had boobs. "Raphael?" he asked. "Why do you pick him?"
She laughed. "We have a similar hair cut," her comment was obviously in jest.
"But he sucks. Especially in arcade."
The girl sighed. "The only people who say that Raphael sucks, are the people who suck as Raphael. The game is easy. Raphael is not."
"All you do is BBB right? That's all Raph has!"
A smirk, followed by a scoff was the only response he received before the round began. She began by putting up her guard as if she was waiting for his attack. He decided that he did not want to be toyed with and went straight in. He was met with her giving a horizontal attack followed with a few quick verticals. She began to strafe around him and out of his range, leaving him helpless. She would quickly advance step in kick and retreat step thrust, only a few times being guarded against. Finally, Aiden awaited the advance step kick but was met with the thrust instead, Raphael's most powerful attack outside of his throws and unblockables. Victory in round one went to her. The second round consisted of her dancing around his Taki, making him look like a complete fool. The third round went to Aiden. He smiled "Not so perfect now, are we?"
"I gave it to you," she said with a smile. "I'm not entirely unkind. I want to see what you're like when you play angry."
She was right. Her talking like that had made him slightly irked. So much for flirting with this girl. The fourth round started and he went in for a direct charge. She stepped to his right and performed a throw, A Lesson in Massacre. As he got back up, he didn't know what had hit him. He was so upset about being thrown that he'd neglected to notice that she had been setting up for Bloody Funeral. After the attack hit him for more damage than he knew he could make up for, he fell back, guarding, waiting and being patient, trying to take as much damage as he could from her before the inevitable.
After the battle was over, the girl stretched. "Not bad not bad! You know when you're beaten and your play style gets a little better after that. Work on playing that way all the time. Like you're always going to be beaten."
"So you're saying play scared?"
"You weren't scared. You were relaxed. That's the best way to play. Hard though. Just focus on it as best you can."
"Yeah yeah."
"I want you on my team," she said suddenly.
"Team. On conquest mode. I'm the leader of the Tristan army. I want you in."
"Why me?"
"You have potential. Our old Taki player just moved so we need a new one."
"Conquest mode?"
"Yeah, it's a mode on the machine where you play against AI based on other players. There are a lot of players in each army and a few secondary characters, but there are groups of people, me and my friends who take it seriously and really carry their armies. It's big here. Please join our army. We have to take down those god damned Galahads..."
"What's your name?"
"Ah! That's right! I'm Corrin! Nice to meet you. Your name is...?"
"It's Aiden."
"Well Aiden," she said, extending her hand, "Welcome to Tristan. I'll introduce you to the core group. Do you have class?"
"No, I'm done for the day."
"Good. They should be down here soon then."
"CORRIN!"
Corrin smiled. "That's them."
Aiden turned to the door of the arcade to witness four other students entering, waving to Corrin and walking toward the machine.
The first round proved no challenge, as always. After a few more rounds he'd gotten into a rhythm and he noticed that a girl was watching him play. Huh, he thought, smirking. She must want to flirt with me or is really impressed. I'd better play hard and really show off. As soon as he thought that, he lost his first round. He didn't know if he'd really heard it, but he could swear the girl had snickered a bit. She was short and cute. Cute meaning she wasn't what one would exactly call hot, but she wasn't unattractive. She wasn't too thin and it was obvious that her thinness came from her petite bone structure. She certainly as hell didn't starve herself as she was eating a nice greasy personal size pepperoni pizza and he could see a nice big soda cup on the ground beside her. She had short blonde hair and friendly green eyes. She took a sip of her soda, came closer and set both soda and pizza box on the ground. She wrapped her left hand around the control stick and settled her right fingers on the buttons. She tapped them playfully and said, "You've got a good Taki, but you need to work on your focus. You're still pretty green. Have you played against a human opponent?"
"Well...my friends..."
"A human opponent that you don't know," she clarified placing her own quarters in the machine.
"You play?"
"Yeah. Got a problem?" she said, pressing start and selecting Raphael.
Aiden was by far no expert, but he'd heard many a "Raphael Sucks" rant. He'd also tried playing as the blond fencer, and hadn't had an easy go of it. Taki wasn't any easier, but at least she had boobs. "Raphael?" he asked. "Why do you pick him?"
She laughed. "We have a similar hair cut," her comment was obviously in jest.
"But he sucks. Especially in arcade."
The girl sighed. "The only people who say that Raphael sucks, are the people who suck as Raphael. The game is easy. Raphael is not."
"All you do is BBB right? That's all Raph has!"
A smirk, followed by a scoff was the only response he received before the round began. She began by putting up her guard as if she was waiting for his attack. He decided that he did not want to be toyed with and went straight in. He was met with her giving a horizontal attack followed with a few quick verticals. She began to strafe around him and out of his range, leaving him helpless. She would quickly advance step in kick and retreat step thrust, only a few times being guarded against. Finally, Aiden awaited the advance step kick but was met with the thrust instead, Raphael's most powerful attack outside of his throws and unblockables. Victory in round one went to her. The second round consisted of her dancing around his Taki, making him look like a complete fool. The third round went to Aiden. He smiled "Not so perfect now, are we?"
"I gave it to you," she said with a smile. "I'm not entirely unkind. I want to see what you're like when you play angry."
She was right. Her talking like that had made him slightly irked. So much for flirting with this girl. The fourth round started and he went in for a direct charge. She stepped to his right and performed a throw, A Lesson in Massacre. As he got back up, he didn't know what had hit him. He was so upset about being thrown that he'd neglected to notice that she had been setting up for Bloody Funeral. After the attack hit him for more damage than he knew he could make up for, he fell back, guarding, waiting and being patient, trying to take as much damage as he could from her before the inevitable.
After the battle was over, the girl stretched. "Not bad not bad! You know when you're beaten and your play style gets a little better after that. Work on playing that way all the time. Like you're always going to be beaten."
"So you're saying play scared?"
"You weren't scared. You were relaxed. That's the best way to play. Hard though. Just focus on it as best you can."
"Yeah yeah."
"I want you on my team," she said suddenly.
"Team. On conquest mode. I'm the leader of the Tristan army. I want you in."
"Why me?"
"You have potential. Our old Taki player just moved so we need a new one."
"Conquest mode?"
"Yeah, it's a mode on the machine where you play against AI based on other players. There are a lot of players in each army and a few secondary characters, but there are groups of people, me and my friends who take it seriously and really carry their armies. It's big here. Please join our army. We have to take down those god damned Galahads..."
"What's your name?"
"Ah! That's right! I'm Corrin! Nice to meet you. Your name is...?"
"It's Aiden."
"Well Aiden," she said, extending her hand, "Welcome to Tristan. I'll introduce you to the core group. Do you have class?"
"No, I'm done for the day."
"Good. They should be down here soon then."
"CORRIN!"
Corrin smiled. "That's them."
Aiden turned to the door of the arcade to witness four other students entering, waving to Corrin and walking toward the machine.