Let's get to the next chapter, shall we? Anyway, enjoy!
A couple of days later, on Saturday, Arnold and Rhonda were walking the streets together, both of them in their regular clothes. Arnold decided nothing fancy for the first 'go around', just a little walk around town and stopping at a couple of places and that would be good.
"You know, it's a very nice day, Rhonda." Arnold smiled as he turned towards his raven-haired friend.
"It certainly is..." Rhonda smiled as she sighed. "Arnold, thanks again for taking me out for the day."
"Hey, anytime! Though I still wish your parents hadn't said to 'not do anything funny'." Arnold sighed.
"They're just being parents, Arnold. Even if we are kids, there are some that get ideas." Rhonda blushed. "So, where are we going?"
"I figured we'd stop by the arcade first. I heard there were some new gaming systems on there." Arnold smiled as he pointed towards the town.
Rhonda raised an eyebrow in curiosity as she gave a nod. "Lead the way, good sir."
Arnold could only nod as he and Rhonda went off together, unaware of a certain glasses wearing boy following them.
Once inside the arcade, Rhonda paused as she looked around in amazement, seeing the many arcade filled games littered and lined up in perfect succession. "Wow... I have no idea an arcade this big could have so many games."
"Like I said, some of these games are pretty new... but why don't we start with something a little... simple?" Arnold said, taking her hand and taking her over to a small arcade machine. "Here's a bit of a classic."
Rhonda looked up and squinted at the title. "Chomper?"
"Yeah, you play as an orb going around and eating squares, collecting vegetables to get points. But beware the four zombies, who are always after you. You can't touch them unless you touch a glowing square, then you can touch them and send them back to start, but only for a short amount of time." Arnold explained. "You have the idea?"
Rhonda nodded as she sat down next to Arnold and inserted a few quarters. From nearby, Curly had walked in and sat down near an arcade machine behind Arnold and Rhonda, who were sitting too close together... for his tastes. Curly inserted a few quarters quickly and started to push a few buttons, not caring about what he was doing on the screen, more paying attention to the couple in front of him as he was mentally taking notes.
"All right... keep focus... let's see if these two perform any funny business." Curly muttered to himself as he kept pushing buttons.
Meanwhile, back with Arnold and Rhonda, Rhonda stuck her tongue out a bit as she tried to move to the left, then to the right before a zombie got her.
"Oh, darn it!" Rhonda frowned. "Okay, last life... I can get those squ- OH COME ON, THEY'RE TOO FAST! No, they got me!"
Rhonda held her head up as Arnold looked concerned. "Rhonda, remember, it's just a game."
The beautiful raven-haired girl took a few deep breaths before turning to the boy she had a crush on. "Sorry about that, Arnold. I don't think that this is the game for me."
Arnold just nodded as he got up. "I understand. Maybe we can try a new game for you... oh, how about this one?"
Arnold smiled as he took Rhonda by the hand (much to Curly's annoyance as he gritted his teeth and started to curl his hand to a fist as he was punching the button he was pressing) as they walked over to another arcade machine. Curly moved his head to the other end as he watched Arnold and Rhonda sit down in front of the machine.
"Super Maria Sisters?" Rhonda asked as Arnold inserted a few coins.
"Yeah, you play as a female construction worker who's trying to get rid of monsters that are raiding a giant soon to be built house." Arnold explained. "You just have to get rid of the enemies that spawn from this laser and you need to hit the bottom of those floors to knock the character down, then get up and kick them off before they get back up again. Just beware, some of these enemies will require two hits. Understand?"
"I think so..." Rhonda said as she inserted some quarters in the machine. "No need to pay for this one, Arnold. This one is on me. I think I can beat you."
"But you've never played this game before." Arnold smirked.
Rhonda gave a smirk back. "No, but I'm willing to learn..."
Back towards the other machine Curly was watching from, Curly growled as he muttered to himself, "I may not be able to hear them from here, but I just know they're saying playful things to each other!"
Curly was about to get up when he heard a coughing sound behind him. Curly blinked as he turned his head as he saw a small crowd forming around the boy, some not really looking at him, but more towards the screen. Curly blinked in confusion before turning back to the screen, wondering what he was playing.
On the screen was a big eggplant traveling through a garden and shooting out slime towards giant zombies that were coming towards the eggplant. Curly slowly looked towards his score to see that it had somehow reached thirty thousand. Curly's eyes widened as he smiled. "Oh my gosh, am I beating a high score here?"
"You may as well be!" The man said, turning towards Curly. "The record for the best time in Eggplants VS Zombies is fifty thousand. If you can beat that record, you win!"
Curly smiled as he kept pushing buttons. "Well... who am I to deny a record?"
Having forgotten about Arnold and Rhonda, Curly just decided to focus on the game. He smirked as he kept pushing buttons.
"Oh come on, really?" Rhonda groaned as her character got hit by a fireball.
Arnold put a hand on her shoulder, attempting to calm and soothe her. "You can't just rush into things, you know. You have to be a little patient."
Rhonda sighed as she held her head. "Outdoor sports, I can do. Bowling, I can do. Why can't I get through a simple video game?"
"Oh, chin up, Rhonda." Arnold said as he got up... and smirked as he spotted something. "How about one more game before we leave. This one will require your feet."
Rhonda blinked before looking towards where Arnold was staring. Near the center of the room was a certain machine, which looked like a 'Dance Dance Revolution' gaming machine. Rhonda looked closer as the two walked towards the machine. "Dance Blitz?"
Arnold nodded. "It's simple. Just select a song from a list, then follow the arrows to dance along to the tune." Arnold explained as he pulled out a few more quarters and inserted them in the slot as he got on the first dance pad. "Just get on the other dance pad and we can select a song."
Rhonda looked a bit skeptical, but obeyed as she took her position. Arnold paused as he looked towards the list of songs. "Okay, pick a song, any song..."
Rhonda examined the list... before smiling, pointing to a song title on the list. "How about 'I Will Survive'? I always liked Gloria Gaynor."
Arnold raised an eyebrow towards Rhonda in surprise. Rhonda chuckled nervously. "My parents always liked eighties music in general."
Arnold smiled as he said, "'I Will Survive' it is, then."
With that said, Arnold selected the song and as the song started to play, Arnold gave a warm smirk. "Let's dance."
Rhonda smirked back as she started following the arrows and started to dance easily. Arnold was doing his best to catch up easily, but Arnold was a little distracted, looking amazed at how Rhonda was able to move her feet to the beat, Rhonda happily smiling as she seemed to be enjoying the dance.
All the while, during those three minutes, Curly had just beaten the high score, and had kept going as people were chanting Curly's name.
"Yes, yes! Root for me, for I am about to become an Eggplant master!" Curly laughed with glee.
Back with Arnold and Rhonda, as soon as the song was done, Rhonda and Arnold stopped moving as the raven-haired girl sighed a bit, her screen showing a 'YOU WIN!' on it. Arnold ignored the 'YOU LOSE!' on his screen as he turned to Rhonda. "Rhonda, you're amazing! I didn't know you can dance that well!"
"Well, after learning a lot about dancing when I was much younger, I just started becoming a natural." Rhonda smiled. "Do you really like my dance moves?"
"I think they were wonderful!" Arnold smiled. "Amazing, marvelous, spectacular, stupendous... and really good." Arnold complimented her.
Rhonda blushed a bit as she giggled. "Well... if you want, I'd be willing to show you what I know."
"I would be happy to." Arnold smiled as he took Rhonda's hand as they walked out of the arcade... just as Curly lost his last life, but gotten a high score of eighty thousand points.
"Congratulations, Curly Gammelthorpe, for currently holding the high score of an old game!" The owner of the arcade said as he gave Curly a plaque and twenty dollars.
Curly raised an eyebrow as he looked at the money. "Twenty dollars, really?"
"Tell me, Mister Gammelthorpe, what inspired you to play this game?" The arcade owner asked.
Curly chuckled. "Oh, I was just sitting down and just pushing random buttons. I wasn't really paying attention to the game at first, I was more focused on..."
Curly's eyes widened as he slapped his forehead. He looked around quickly... then frowned as he walked off with the plaque and twenty dollars in hand, passing by a flabbergasted, yet not amused Helga, who happened to be nearby, watching. Curly sighed as he said, "I kinda lost focus. But don't worry, I'm on the case."
"They went that-a way." Helga sighed, pointing out the doors and to the left.
"Gotcha!" Curly said as he ran off.
Helga looked over towards the arcade machine Curly played... then turned to the arcade owner. "Say, if anyone beats Curly's high score, is the prize the same?"
"It is." The man explained.
"Thanks." Helga said as she sat down and inserted a few quarters into the Eggplant VS Zombies game. "I think I'm going to beat his record myself."
The arcade owner watched in interest as Helga started playing the game.
The fourth chapter is done! How did you guys like it? Now, I would like to give thanks and credit to DMan51 for giving me the idea of the arcade date! Anyway, read, review, criticize and suggest, folks!