100.1 Bonus Chapter
"IKKEEEEE!"
"Don't die on me G!"
"What!"
"Shoot them in the head!"
"We're just passing through."
"You don't need to fear anything any more, Daniel...not even DEATH!"
"Damn it! How does the zombie plant still have so much health?"
"I'm almost dead, we gotta take it down fast!"
"Had enough yet?"
The constant clicking of the guns mixed with the chaotic background noise, everything from bell whistles, to car tires grinding against the pavement, to slapping on hard plastic and the beat of drums, it all combined into the unique and familiar bustle of an arcade.
Pumping the shotgun over and over, Kairi and Flat fought against waves of zombies, mutant plants, killer birds and overgrown leeches, standing side by side as they met the monstrosities with an endless rain of shotgun shells. Come what may, they had each other's backs, rescuing their partner whenever the hordes of zombies overwhelmed the other, grabbing bonus lives as much as possible to battle the bosses with their full power. They screamed, they shouted, though Flat was more often the one who made sound, while Kairi was more or less unphased except during the boss fights, where he unexpectedly became even more animated than Flat, practically roaring in the face of the abominations on screen, pumping his shotgun for all it was worth. It was to the extent that the other patrons of the arcade had their attention caught by his outbursts, but one look at him was enough to dissuade a second look.
"PUSH FORWARD!"
The duo was aiming for double SS rank in the final grade, and were burning up coins in pursuit of the high score. With the immensely experienced Kairi and the naturally talented Flat, it was actually within reach, though Kairi's aim surprisingly was worse than Flat's, while Flat was actually using magecraft to mess with the shotgun and buff his gameplay.
Of course, both of them were pragmatists and believed in using any methods to achieve victory, so they weren't too bothered about it.
*crack*
"Ah!"
With a final reload, the plastic grips of the tubes broke at the same time for both of them. Kairi's due to his naturally strong grip, and Flat's due to his discreet tampering with the device. Without even pausing, the two fixed the tubes with magecraft and continued without missing a beat, pushing the light guns even further until they were constantly fixing the mock shotguns, with Kairi even unconsciously reinforcing himself to improve his aim.
In the floors above them, Assassin and Gray sat in the photo booth, Ayaka standing outside the curtains.
"Come on, just join us for one! It's not like we get to come here all the time, so it'll be nice to do something like this once in a while you know."
Shuffling her feet, she looked at the ground, unwilling to step past the white cloth hanging over the entrance.
"But, do you really want to do it with someone like me?"
"Of course! It's not like there's anything wrong with you. Plus, I want to leave my Master with some memories before I leave."
Assassin elbowed Gray.
"She might get sad after I leave, right?"
Gray stuttered, surprised Assassin would actually consider it.
"I'll be fine Miss Ecchan! I might be a little sad, but it's only natural. Everything that has a beginning must have an end after all."
Gray's smile showed how glad she was to have met Assassin, the Servant who had protected her against the Master of Caster and Berserker on the steps of Ryuudou Temple, later fending off Lancer, keeping her safe at every step of the way. Though she did complain sometimes, and did strange things. In the end, she was still the Servant she had summoned, and she couldn't have asked for better, in her opinion.
"Awww, thanks! Don't think I'll work harder because you'll miss me though. If you work hard, you lose, is my philosophy."
"Ah, please don't slack off too much Miss Ecchan."
"I agree, please throw away the food wrappers after you're done. And vacuum the floor too, you make a mess all the time."
Like a ninja, Ayaka stealthily appeared in the booth with neither of them noticing to tell off Assassin, who was supposed to have the Presence Concealment skill.
"Gyah! Jeez, don't just suddenly show up right in front of us like that. And I don't make that much of a mess ok? It just, you know, the crumbs happened to hop out of mouth, and…"
The trio bantered and chatted, taking souvenir photos that Gray would later on treasure for the rest of her life.
"It's time for our rematch!"
"You mean the twenty sixth defeat this year. And considering the year just started, that's for one month only."
"This time for sure, I'm gonna get ya!"
"Have you even trained?"
"I'm mentally prepared!"
The tanned girl dragged along her shy, brown haired friend and the cool glasses girl into the arcade, heading straight for the fighting games section on the upper floors.
The synth beats started up as they arrived at the rows of arcade cabinets, choosing the closest unoccupied seats to get started. Pulling out a purse full of coins, she smacked it onto the control panel, the coins clinking against each other.
"This time, I'm not gonna hold back! You'd better be prepared, ya hear me Kane-chan?"
"We'll see."
Sitting down, the two of them placed their hands on the controls after inserting the coins, one grinning like a demon, the other holding an impassive face that betrayed no emotion.
"Are you ready? GO!"
A deep male voice vibrated from the machine. The words "Round 1" and "Fight!" flashed across the screen, a red banner highlighting it as the transparent words cut across it.
"Iku wa yo!"
Without wasting any time, Kaede directed her character at Kane, slamming the buttons harder than necessary as she unleashed a combo of attacks at Kane, the old man she was controlling backing off as the young woman unleashed a series of devastating kicks, going high and low and mixing up her attacks to confuse her opponent, utilizing her fists as weapons too. Despite how many times she lost to Kane, Kaede wasn't a bad player.
It was just that Kane was better. By a lot.
The cries of her character filled the air as Kaede's was repeatedly bashed on the ground from left to right and then from right to left, her health bar depleting so fast it was almost laughable.
"Alright that's cool."
Just like that, one round was over.
"Grrr, I'll get, I swear I will! Just watch me!"
"Maybe if you bow down to me and ask me to teach you, you'll win after ten years of training under me."
"Argh, shut up!"
Behind them, Yukika tried to calm them down, frantically providing support when they needed it such as a bottle of water or putting the coins in for extra time.
"YOU WIN"
"YOU WIN"
"YOU WIN"
"YOU WIN"
"YOU W-"
"GAHHHH! Why can't I get you?"
"Just accept reality. You'll never beat me."
Glaring at her, Kaede growled, reaching for the joystick again.
"One more, one more!"
"We-we're out of coins already Maki-chan."
Yukika's frightened voice squeaked out besides her ear, barely audible beneath the background noise. Checking the purse, she realized it was indeed, devoid of coins.
"Mooouuu, I thought we had enough to play a couple more! Next time I'll save up more to beat you up, don't worry about it."
Stuffing the empty purse back into her pockets, she stood up from the chair, stretching her arms into the air above her.
"Ahhhh, it felt good to play again though. I feel like I learned something today, for sure I'll win next time."
"That's what you say every time."
"You wanna go, hah?"
Meanwhile, the flustered Yukika wavered between the two, waving her arms at the increasing aggression from the two. It was really just some teasing between the two though, and never ended up as anything serious.
Then a formidable presence made Kaede and Kane shut up to turn around.
"Join me for a match, mongrel."