Another uncomfortable train ride had Sora and the guys back in the bright lights of Game Central Station. Again, the place was criminally quiet, with only a few stragglers that didn't seem bothered about getting back to their games.
"Geez. I thought this place'd be so much busier," Sora frowned at how quiet it was. Aside from an incomprehensible tannoy message every few minutes, the place was about as homely as a dentist's waiting room.
"Maybe that Coin Duty lasts longer than we thought?" Goofy shrugged. He and Donald exchanged a confused glance.
"Maybe..." Sora nodded. " We probably shouldn't go into a new game while that Coin Duty is still going on... right? What if we get caught, and it thinks we're monsters or something, and then attacks us?"
"We'll be fine!" Donald dismissed him with a shove towards the connecting station. The blue security guard zapped in front of the three of them as the approached, but then just bowed out of the way upon recognising them all, letting them through.
Sora thought he was ready for the train this time, however it still managed to take him by surprise and catapult him into the next game, where he landed face first into muddy, swampy grass.
"Eeew-w-w-w," he glitched out, wiping pixelated slime from his face. "Where are w-w-we this time?"
"Don't know," said Goofy. The three of them looked around, but couldn't identify anything other than badly rendered grass, and cloudless blue skies. The two merged together so well Sora couldn't even tell where the land ended and the sky began, as if any step forwards would be met with immediate walls.
"This is so weird!" Donald's voice was even more tinny than it was in Fix-it Felix's game. It almost sounded like the duck had gone back to-
Sora jumped as a dull sounding bang ricocheted through the level. Out of the grass several green and brown ducks flapped about madly, escaping into the sky. However there was another bang, and one of the ducks crashed back down to the ground, lifeless.
A little fanfare sounded, and then a huge brownish dog burst out of nowhere. It collected the duck in its jaws, and disappeared with it!
"Donald..." Sora whispered. "You might wanna get d-d-d-down!"
"Why?" Donald squawked at him. "I'm not like those ones! I'll be f-"
There was another blast, and Donald didn't even have chance to finish his sentence. With a cry of surprise, the little white duck fell to the ground, and the fanfare sounded again.
"Donald...!" Sora groaned. The urge to say 'I told you so' was strong. But even if he did, Donald was out cold. Was there even a point in saying it?
Suddenly, the dog reappeared again, and clipped through the grass to Donald's location.
"N-no! No no!" Sora jumped to action. "D-down boy, down! Not for you!"
"Wumff!" The hunting dog gave a loud, sloppy bark in response, and just stared at Sora.
"Not for you!" Sora repeated. "Mine!"
The hunting dog just gently whimpered in response, and gave the big eyes.
"No no, don't look at me like that!" Sora shielded his gaze with his blocky hand. "You can't have him, boy. I'm sorry!"
Then suddenly, the dog barked again and bounded away, leaving Sora and Goofy stranded again. Did that actually work?
"C-c-c'mon Goof, help me with Donald." Sora glitched about Donald's feet. "This place is fine. Let's get outta-"
Without warning, the bright white light began to sweep. Swallowing up the world pixel by blocky pixel, Sora and Goofy couldn't hope to carry Donald quickly enough to evade it.
"It burns...!" Sora gasped, as the light practically melted his corneas. It was over about as soon as it began, but a loud warning siren blared almost immediately after, and red flashes began pulsing instead.
"Wh-what does that mean?!" Sora beckoned to Goofy, who shrugged in response.
"Maybe it's that defence system that Calhoun told us about?"
"That could be bad..." Sora gulped.
"What's going on?!" Donald burst awake at last, loudly and predictably panicking when he noticed all the red lights, "whaaah?!"
"C'mon Donald, we gotta move!" Sora grasped at Donald's wing. The three charged in a direction, hoping some kind of exit or change in scenery would present itself before things got too messy. On their travels, all sorts of pixelated monsters began popping up in their way. Multi-coloured sort of... pointy little things that seemed to just float around and get in the way more than actually attack. Sora could get rid of them with single stroke of the Keyblade, but there were just so many, and they were popping up faster than he could fell them.
"C'mon guys, f-f-find an exit!" Sora's arm glitched through one of the weird alien things as yet more invaded the level. "Either that, or hope this alarm thing runs out soon!"
"Easier said than done!" Donald squawked in protest, loosing a Thunder spell and vaporising about a dozen of the things.
"W-Well, just try your best, go-whoa, whoa!" Sora cried, as his Keyblade arm involuntarily threw him into a nearby wall. Weird. There was a wall there of all places?
It was the same colour as the background, so no wonder he couldn't see it. Every time Sora tried to wrench his arm out of the wall, little greenish blocks would bloop out of it. They slowly built up, and eventually the wall disappeared completely, revealing the connecting train station?
Released from its grip, Sora swiped a space invader away and frowned at the sudden discovery.
"...Alright, I'll take it," he said. "C'mon guys, let's get outta here!"
Sora and his two compatriots bundled themselves into the train carriage, and the ringing of the alarm could still be heard screaming down the tunnel as the trio made their way back.
"...I really hope Calhoun didn't see that," Sora clutched at his heart and chuckled. What else could he do? Despite everything, it was all too ridiculous to not be funny. Donald almost got eaten and the three of them were nearly lost in a world of endless blue and green. All things considered, getting out of that world in one piece was a bit of a-
"-welcome back." A familiar voice pierced Sora's thoughts like a knife through paper. The young man spun around to see a wide-eyed, thin-lipped Calhoun staring him down, and her entire army training their blasters on the three of them.
"...so you heard the alarm?" He grinned awkwardly. With a nudge from Donald, the trio slowly raised their hands.
"Heard it?" She seethed. "Who d'ya think they call when this all goes down, kid? I trusted you to take care of this and lighten the workload, not Frogger it all up and double it!"
"Captain!" One of her men gawped at her.
"Grow up, soldier." Calhoun spat, and the cadet stepped back in line instantly. Calhoun's death stare returned to Sora.
"S-sorry," He winced. "It's just umm, we tried to find somewhere to hide, but that place was like a giant open field. No walls or anything."
"No walls in Duck Shoot? You kiddin' me?" Calhoun frowned. "They're all over the pl - ohh, I guess a newbie like yourself wouldn't be able to see them. Was the game clean at least?"
"Y-yeah, couldn't see anything weird at all." Sora nodded. With Calhoun's approval, her men lowered their weapons, and Sora could literally feel the tension in his chest melt away. "So I'm... not in trouble?"
"I'll let you off this time, got it?" Calhoun looked the other way. "You can make it up to me by taking on those two games. I hate both of them."
"W-why's that?" Sora dared.
"Put it this way, kid, you'll need to be quick on your feet." Calhoun gave Sora a look that he could've sworn was a half-smile. But he knew better, because Calhoun's only mood seemed to be grumpy.
"...Welp, looks like we're doing those two next." Said Sora, as he took note of the yellow tape that was getting wrapped around 'Duck Shoot'.
"And phooey to that!" Donald cursed at the game as the trio made their way into the next connecting station.
"I know right? We probably should've read the title before just diving in, huh?" Sora chuckled.
"You mean like we didn't just then?!" Donald shrieked at him.
"Hey, I got caught up in the moment!" Sora pleaded. "I'll read the next one, promise!"
Sora was prepared for the train to tip him out this time. Before the thing could come to a stop, he leapt from the thing and onto flat ground without any drama.
...just as the thing clicked to a stop at the end of the line. With even less drama.
"...This world hates me." he deflated.
"Let's just get going..." Donald huffed at him, and the trio exited the station. Beyond the doorway however was just empty blackness. The three of them were illuminated brightly, but that only made things even more difficult to see beyond an occasional lit symbol or arrow or something.
"M-maybe those are signs?" Sora pointed to an arrow facing to the right. "Think we should follow-"
"Ohai-yo~" a voice sprang out of nowhere, and two long arms wrapped tightly around Sora's shoulders. "Donald-san! Goofy-dono! Okaeri na-sai!"
"Huh?" Goofy stammered, as a sprightly blonde woman danced around Sora.
"Ver-sa Yuni, desu!" She placed a hand on her chest. She then pointed at Sora. "Kimi wa?"
Immediately, Sora's eyes bulged. "Kimmy... wha?"
"Yuni desu!" The blonde woman repeated. "Kimi wa?"
Sora just smiled awkwardly at her. Hers flickered just a little.
"Donald," she pointed at Donald. "Goofy!" she then pointed to Goofy. And then to Sora. Slowly the cogs began turning...
"S... Sora," the boy gulped, with a hand on his chest. "N-nice to me-"
"Sora-Chan!" She latched onto him again, and babbled out a whole slew of things in that language he couldn't understand. Suddenly she grabbed both of his arms and dragged the young man across the blackness of the level towards some weird platforms.
"H-hey, wait just a sec-" Sora protested, tripping over his own feet in the meantime. "What are we doing here? What is all this?!"
Donald and Goofy looked just as clueless as he on their identical platforms. Whatever was about to happen, he already wasn't looking forward to it.
"Dansu Dansu, Revolution!" The blonde woman - Yuni, was that her name? - thrust an arm up into the air. Suddenly the entire place was illuminated, and the chirpiest, bubbliest, worst kind of music starting playing out of nowhere.
"Did she just say dance?!" Sora cried. That didn't exactly go well in Atlantica. How was he going to survive this?
Instantly he clammed up. His feet suddenly felt like lead weights as arrows began lighting up across the platforms. They were facing in all sorts of directions, and Sora had felt out of place enough in Street Fighter. At least he got to fight stuff there, though.
"Dansu, Sora-Chan!" That Yuni woman chirped at him, and quick as lightning she stomped on lights as they flashed up on their respective panels. Sora cursed his giant feet, and wobbled a shaky leg over one panel. With a stumble and a half-jump, he hit the top right and instantly heard a buzzer noise telling him off.
"What... the?" He grunted. This was madness. There was no way he was surviving this.
Goofy and Donald weren't having much better luck. Was anyone in this team coordinated?
Stamp, stamp, stamp and turn! Sora tried his best to learn! Hop, hop, jump and crash! But these arrows moved too fast!
Sweat was pouring out of him. The heavy, thick uniform Calhoun had made him wear was only making things more difficult, and he could've sworn he was about to black out at any given second. The arrows were blurring, his head was swimming, but the music kept on playing.
And then it changed!
Smooth and seamless, it went from some teenage pop song one moment, and a slower, more guitar-y one the next. Yuni grabbed at the hems of her pants, and began moving in a more of a hip-shakey movement. So Sora supposed he had to do the same. With shaky steps and clumsy stomps, he attempted to follow in Yuni's footsteps on the dance platform thing.
Step, step, stomp and hip-shake, Sora tried to keep up, but it was much too fast, and his team-mates were just, as, help-less.
Step, stum, ble, and trip-up! Sora fell to the floor, he could take no more, Donald got, game, over.
"Sorry...!" The duck wailed, before a giant hammer came out of nowhere, and knocked him unconscious.
Sora ignored the pain in his shins and staggered back upright. He was practically blinded by sweat, but something told him that the ominous red flashing from Donald's 'lane' that game over was not a good thing. What if all three of them got it?
Yuni continued to hit near perfect scores on her lane, as Sora and Goofy struggled along, barely even keeping up with it.
"Yatta, Sora-Chan, Goofy-Dono!" Yuni was somehow able to keep up conversation while dancing on this thing, meanwhile Sora could barely see for the sweat cascading from his brow. It had to be over soon. Please be over soon.
Another hip-shake and a twirl gave them a moment's break, as the banjo music died down and faded away. Yuni beamed at them both as Donald remained unconscious.
"Sugoi, Sugoiii!" She clapped at the both of them, not even looking like she'd broken a sweat. But then she immediately snapped back to attention as more arrows began moving down the lanes. Sora groaned, and straightened up again, just in time for
Two, stomps!
Two, stomps!
Faster, faster, music was playing, and Sora, Goofy, both had to hop!
Hop, and skip, and jump onto other foot, hopping and jumping and Goofy was falling down.
"Goofy!" Sora spluttered out, his vision blurring as he barely kept up with the madness on the screen.
"I'll be alright Sora!" Goofy gasped out, starfishing on the floor. "Jus' you make sure ya beat this, ya got-"
Again, the giant hammer wheedled its way out, and bonked Goofy on the head, where he immediately lost consciousness.
"D-dammit...!" Sora sputtered. His legs were screaming at him for rest now. With all this hopping and skipping, he was missing notes all over the place. Either side of him, Goofy and Donald's lanes taunted with their 'Game Over!' screens.
"Subarashii, Sora-Chan!" Yuni sounded like she was praising him. For all Sora knew, she could've been taunting him after all. "Ganbarou!"
He tried his best to block out her high pitched, squeaky voice, and focus on the arrows, which were floating across the floor almost as fast as his eyes could process.
The hopping and hopping and skipping, awa-aayyy! The skipping and sweating and slipping, awa-aayy!
Every joint Sora possessed felt like lead weights now. It had to be over soon, it just had to.
Another stumble had the young man missing several notes in a row, and his screen began flashing red. The smile vanished from Yuni's face as her score was still all but perfect. Sora staggered back to his position, the angry red glow taunting him. He could barely even lift his legs now, but still, that game over screen threatened. His legs wobbled just in time to hit for
Two stomps!
And two more!
The last of his strength slipped away from him and he crashed to the ground as a loud, fret heavy guitar solo played out the end of the song. Sora couldn't see any more arrows floating down his lane. Had he really done it? Did he pass?
'Well done!' Flashed up on the screen, and Sora felt his consciousness ripped from the ground as Yuni literally hauled him into the air.
"Sora-Chan!" Her arms were like a vice as she bear hugged him. "Nice work!"
"Hunh?" The lad mumbled. "Y-you speak English?"
But then she danced around, gabbling things in her own language once again. Maybe not...
Two scores vaulted up high on the screen, with Yuni's putting Sora's to shame. But that wasn't important. Because he made it. He didn't get game over. His bleary mind didn't even know if that made a difference, but it was satisfying all the same. He staggered about on his exhausted feet as Goofy and Donald slowly returned to consciousness.
"Whah?!" Donald gasped, bursting upright. "Are we dead?!"
"Huh?" Goofy echoed Donald. "Did ya do it, Sora?"
"Like, barely," Sora grit his teeth.
"Sora-Chaaan~" Yuni was all sing-songy again. Sora wrenched himself around to address her, only to find her bowing?
"A-arigato!" Her voice was suddenly all choked and squeaky. "Sugu ni modotte?"
"Eheh... sure?" Sora frowned. What the woman had just asked, he wasn't certain, but either way she was ecstatic at his answer, leaping forward and wrapping him up in another bone crushing hug. She continued to dance around him like a moth around a flame all the way back to the train station, where he promptly collapsed into it.
"Bai-bai, Sora-Chan, Donald-San, Goofy-Dono!" She waved, if it were possible, with even more vigour as the train rattled back.
"...what was that?" Sora broke the awkward silence as the lights of Game Central Station grew ever closer.
"I dunno," Goofy scratched at his chin. "But I think she likes ya, Sora!"
Author's note:
Hey there guys. First things first; if my bad Japanese insults anyone, please let me know. I just thought it'd be cuter if she spoke Japanese instead of English.
Second, I've never actually played DDR, so I've no clue how accurate any of it is. I just knew it'd be about the most entertaining arcade game Sora could get lost in, and let's face it, that's the important part right?
As always, feel free to leave feedback if you've got anything to say :)