Cry's POV
If there was anything worse than being woken up by some strange ugly bird pecking away at your window at a time that was not made for humans to get up, it definitely was driving in a car with an overly excited Felix next to you. For the entire drive to the arcade, he wouldn't stop fidgeting and hopping around on his seat. I tried to bring him down to earth by telling him over and over again that I wasn't sure if they would even let us play (us being adult and stuff) but he generously ignored me and his grin grew even bigger. By the time I pulled the car up the arcade's driveway I had given up on taming Felix.
"Oooh snap!" There he went again.
"You think we'll be in teams? Like with other players?" With other kids, mental note to myself. "Or will we be allowed to battle against each other, that would be awesome."
"Jeez, Felix. Calm down, this is really not that special. We're just gonna shoot each other with laser guns, that's all." I snapped. The look on his face was almost heartbreaking. I hadn't meant to be so harsh with him. I was just not feeling so well at the moment. Since breakfast, a strange headache was gnawing at my skull every time I tried to focus on something (which was a really useful thing whilst driving) and I just couldn't come up with enough energy to stop my hands from shaking, everytime I lifted them. So, yeah... I felt pretty bad, but I wouldn't let Felix know.
"But Cry" he began in his playful-hurt voice, barely able to hide a grin. "Why are you being so mean to me?" He gave me his famous puppy dog eyes and pouted what made him look really weird since he was a good seven inches taller than me. Frustrated, I threw my hands up in the air. "Fine! Let's just go!"
We got out of the car. The parking lot was surprisingly empty though it was already early afternoon and school should be over by now. Usually, this place was full of kids, running around, screaming everything rather than speaking with normal volume and making a mess out of everything that got in their way...
I should really not become a parent with this attitude.
We entered the building and same there, just a few kids occupied with the video games. I had been to this place a few times when I was younger. It was a rather small building and the main gaming area had no windows at all. The light came from neon lights with different colours that were hung up on the ceiling, lining the walls. You could spent hours in here without noticing the time passing until it was late evening and your mother would show up and make a scene in front of everybody. Then she would drag you home and lecture you about how you will never learn from your mistakes and bring a watch with you the next time you went there.
"Over here, Cry!" Felix voice pulled me out of my thoughts. While I had been thrown back into my childhood by entering this place, he had gone looking for an employee. The brunette woman had a friendly face and was patiently listening to Felix explanations. The arcade clothes fitted ill around her slim body but she looked comfortable with it. She was young, maybe two or three years older than me and the name tag on her collar said 'Hello, my name is Helen'. I managed a smile as I strolled over to them, hands in my pockets.
"You two want to play? There's no one else in at the moment, so you two may want to do a one against one match?" She smiled at me and I could tell that it was an honest smile, though she seemed a little bit irritated by my mask. I just ignored it and nodded.
"Yes, Felix resisted on playing, though in my opinion we're waay too old for this." Felix pierced my side with his elbow and was about to protest.
"No, that's not true." Helen interfered. "It's not only a game for kids, you know? In fact most of our younger costumers are not able to really appreciate it. It needs true skill and cleverness to beat your opponent. The kids turn it into a hit-and-run kind of game." She smiled. "It's a welcome change to have someone more... adult coming to play."
Her honesty left me dumbstruck for a moment. I could literally feel Felix' grin growing wider and wider beside me but I tried to ignore it.
"Fine then, one against one it is?" I tried to sound cool to save the situation somehow and Helen giggled softly before turning around and motioning for us to follow her. Felix once again poked his elbow into my ribcage. "I told you so, didn't I?" He teased. His eyes sparkled with mirth and with something else... they sparkled with delight... delight over Helen, no doubt.
I hated it.
And that was when my gnawing headache turned into a hammering pounding.
I felt miserable to say the least, but I followed Helen and Felix into the laser hall.
Pewd's POV
The girl, Helen was her name, was a genius. She knew nearly everything about lasertag and shooting tactics plus she was really beautiful. She was so different to Marzia in every way. It gave me a pang in the stomach to think about my girlfriend. I had not answered her last text message and there had not been any further ones from her since the 'we need to talk'-one. I spent pretty much most of the time trying and ignoring the fact that something was seriously wrong, that Marzia was really mad at me for some reason I didn't know. Maybe that was why I was so excited about playing lasertag, I don't know.
Cry seemed to be tired, though I couldn't understand how, since he'd slept until late noon, which was insane for my standarts. Marzia used to kick me out of bed in the mornings to 'start the day early and not waste it with sleeping in'. There she was again, ghosting around in my thoughts.
I tried to focus on the matter at hand. Helen had led us into a kind of preparing room, where a great amount of vests were hung up on a metal rod. Most of them were kids-sized but in the back, Helen found some that would be big enough to cover our upper body. We put them on really quick, Cry having trouble to fasten the straps, since the vest ended up to be too big for him, while the smaller ones were too small. That seemed to be the disadvantage of being too slender, just like him.
After a good five minutes, we were both fully equipped and ready to go. Helen explained the rules very quickly.
"There are two bases. One is red, the other one is green, just like your guns, they're colour-coded too." She pointed towards our laser guns.
"Also, we have to re-powering stations. That means, your gun has 20 shots and you have 10 lives. Both are displayed on your gun. When you run out of shots, you can't shoot anymore, logically, but when you're out of lives there will be a beeping sound and all of your remaining shots will be lost. You can re-load your shots and lives at the re-powering stations (they're colour-coded too). Just hold your guns up to the bulb like this." She raised her hand in the air, reaching as high as possible. "This will reload your gun and you can continue. The round is over when one of you is completely out of lives or able to take over the other's base by firing at the symbol on the base's wall." He made a pause there to let the information sink in. I really liked her voice. It was soft but commanding at the same time and she put in very much effort to explain everything as clearly as possible.
"Everything clear? Do you have any questions?" Cry shook his head and I followed his example hesitantly. Looking at him directly, I could see his arms shaking under the gun's weight and his face was pretty pale. I was about to once more ask him if everything was alright, but Helen decided to push us towards the hall's entrance at that exact moment.
"Well then, good luck. There's a display in the hall showing your current score. Have fun!" She winked at me and then left the preparation room, giving me one short moment alone with Cry before the game started.
"Is everything alright Cry? You don't look too good, buddy." I said, worry filling my voice, but Cry just shrugged it off.
"Nah, it's nothing. Just feeling a little bit tired that's all. I think it will get better once the adrenalin kicks in." He threw me a crooked smile and for a moment I caught myself believing him. But that smile was not the same happy smile I had seen at the airport. I was about to protest when a deep beeping sound announced the beginning of the game.
"So then, my friend. May the better one be victorious." Cry nudged my shoulder before sprinting off into the blacklight-lighted hall. I gave him a couple of seconds before following.
The hall was spacious and the obstacles well placed. I found the way to my base quickly and also located my re-powering station. This time our colours were switched, me being the green one and Cry the red. Our vests were also colour coded, though you couldn't really see much of that colour in the blacklight and the streaks of laser light shooting through the hall, each one in a different colour. They must have made it extra-freaky for the kids to enjoy the atmosphere. I found it rather disturbing since you couldn't really tell them apart from the gun shots.
The first encounter with Cry was on my way to the re-powering station. Once he saw me he quickly hid behind an obstacle, not wanting to expose his vest and with that the laser sensors to me. I grinned and tip toed around the obstacle, nearing him from the other side. Fortunately, the techno music that was playing in the background absorbed all sounds, so he didn't hear me coming until it was too late.
I tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around and recoiled quickly, raising his gun.
"Son of a bitch!" I could hear him shout, before a few well-placed laser shots found their way onto his vest. He hit me twice in return, before backing away and disappearing behind yet another obstacle. I quickly refilled my shots and lives and went back to my base to check if everything was in order.
Cry's POV
After Felix scared the shit out of me by sneaking up on me, I retreated to my base. It was a small cabin with two entrances, flooted in an aggressive red light. My headache had reached it's climax at that point and my arms were trembling like crazy. I was also starting to feel a little dizzy. I considered sitting down for just a second to catch my breath but pushed the thought aside quickly. There was no time for sitting around with Felix sneaking around the field somewhere, maybe ready to strike once more.
I had to refill my lives and shots (I'd wasted too many of them whilst trying to hit Felix), so I slowly made my way towards the station. The flickering laser lights had gotten really disturbing for me at this point. They didn't exactly benefit my headache and dizziness by attacking my senses with their brutal neon assaults.
Before I could reach the re-powering station, I had to steady myself with one hand on the wall, the dizzy feeling growing stronger with every second. I blinked a few times, trying to get a clear sight. The techno music was getting more and more muffled, as if I heard it through cotton. I tried to call for Felix to end the game because of my current condition, but realized that I didn't have the strength to shout against the music that was suffocating every other sound.
Somehow, I really don't know how, I made it to the station. Once there, my knees buckled and I slid down with my back to the wall until I hit the ground. My head lolled onto my chest and dark edges began to gnaw at my vision.
"Felix!" I tried to call his name once more, but it was not more than a whisper.
I knew this was a mistake...
