Hi there people! Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but this is a new chapter! I hope you won't be too angry that I took so long to update this story; hopefully it will be worth the wait! Thanks to all those who have reviewed the last chapter: anon, Hoshi-Naito, Cream96, Freyagal, Shiro-Kitsune8 and Twilight Archangel. Thanks also to all the others who have read and kept on reading. Knowing there are people out there who like to read what I write is an incredible feeling. Thanks again, and on with the story!
-Lusankya
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon, or any of the arcade games that are referenced to in this chapter. Also, any inaccuracy when describing a game is due to the fact that I have not gone to the arcades in about two years. My apologies.
After a short bus ride and an even shorter walk, our favourite Tamers arrived at their destination.
"Remind me when our movie starts?" asked Ryo.
"At a quarter to three," answered Rika.
"So, that leaves us about a little more than an hour to waste at the arcades."
"Uh huh."
A sly smile suddenly appeared on Ryo's lips.
"Hey Rika?"
She turned towards him. "Yes?" she said, cautiously. Ryo's grin widened.
"Arcade challenge. Four out of seven. Are you game?"
Rika grinned as the adrenaline competition always gave her began to flow through her veins. "I'm game. What's the wager?"
"Is there anything you would want in particular?" Ryo asked.
The red-head thought for a moment. "If I win, I get to pick any Digimon card in your deck. And you?"
Ryo grinned mischievously. "If I win, then you have to bake me cookies."
Rika raised an eyebrow. "You actually want to eat something I cooked? I can think of other ways of killing yourself, you know. Ways that would be much less troublesome for me."
"But I love being troublesome for you!" exclaimed Ryo, still grinning. "Besides," he added, "you can't possibly be that bad at cooking."
"Suit yourself. After all, it's not like you'll find out anyway, since I'm going to win the challenge" the red-head answered with a shrug.
"Your overconfidence is your weakness" he said.
"We'll see about that" she answered, a small smile playing on her lips.
There was nothing like a competition to make Ryo and Rika feel good, and both of them could already feel the adrenaline being pumped into their blood. The order of games was then decided: they would begin with a racing game, then with a shooting game, a guitar simulation, followed by air hockey, Dance Dance Revolution, another shooting game and the grand finale would be a fighting game.
They sat down into the racing game seats. Rika turned to Ryo. "Get ready to eat my dust, Akiyama!"
Ryo grinned. "The only things I will be eating are your cookies!"
(Five minutes later)
"It's so not fair. You got your driver's license, like, two months ago!" complained Rika, sulking.
"Ha ha! If you want, we can do this again after you get your own license, but that won't change the fact that I am in the lead right now!" teased Ryo.
"Don't get so cocky, hotshot. This competition has just begun!" vehemently answered Rika.
Ryo laughed, and then offered her the choice of the shooting game they would play first. "TimeSplitters," answered Rika without hesitation. They walked towards the designated arcade booth and took their places. Rika grabbed her plastic gun and took her stance, legs slightly apart, back straight, and her grip firm on the gun she was pointing straight at the screen, ready to blast away anything that would appear on it. So she stood, completely still, a monument of strength, stability and determination, her brow knit together in concentration.
She was so concentrated that she did not notice Ryo observing her. She did not notice his admiring glace as Ryo observed the fire burning in her eyes and the glow of her skin flushed by the excitement and adrenaline of competition. Rika was also not aware of how regal Ryo thought she looked at that very moment, a warrior queen ready to fight and destroy each and every virtual terrorist that would cross her path. Sadly, she did not notice any of this because Rika's mind was focused on one thing only: beating Ryo.
Sadly, because he was too busy admiring Rika's stance and complexion, Ryo did not notice that the game had already started, and promptly lost two lives before he was able to get a hold of himself and begin playing as he should. Alas, the damage was already done, and Ryo was unable to catch up with Rika, who ended up outliving him for several minutes before dying herself.
Rika was ecstatic with her first victory over Ryo, of course. Ryo cursed himself silently and vowed to not let himself be distracted like this again. They then made their way towards the guitar simulation booth and took their instruments. Ryo pretended to tune his while Rika rolled her eyes at his antics. Always the gentleman, the blue-eyed boy offered to Rika the choice of song.
(Four minutes later)
"I swear one of the buttons on my guitar was broken!" complained Rika.
"Why can't you just admit you have no sense of rhythm?"
"I do have a good sense of rhythm! My guitar was broken, I tell you!"
"Gee, you are such a sore loser," sighed Ryo.
Rika shrugged. "That doesn't matter. Next is air hockey," she said while taking off her jacket and tying it around her waist, "and I am going to own you like you have never been owned before!"
Ryo cocked his head to the side and smiled. "I wouldn't want to be owned by anybody else!"
Rika's predictions proved to be true. She was an excellent air hockey player: she had quick reflexes and she always found an opening to slam the puck in Ryo's goal. To be fair to Ryo however, the sight of Rika bent over the air hockey table proved to be a little too much than his hormones could withstand. The poor boy kept on chastising himself, telling himself that it was wrong and that Rika would kill him if she noticed, but his mind went blank every time a tiny piece of chest skin peeked out of the collar of her T-shirt. Fortunately, Rika was too busy gloating over her 10-3 victory to notice Ryo's discomfort.
Ryo let out a small laugh. "It seems like we have a tough competition! The score is even now."
Rika grinned. "The score won't be even for long."
The next game was Dance Dance Revolution. As there were already two guys playing, they were forced to wait a few minutes. Ryo was the first to break the silence.
"Just so you know, I want chocolate chip cookies" he casually said.
Rika snorted. "And just so you know, I have my eye on your precious Goliath card."
"Hey! You know my Goliath card is off-limits," Ryo said, his eyes widening.
"The wager was any card in your deck," Rika reminded him.
"But still, my Goliath card!"
"If you don't want to lose it, then fight with all you got. I'll still win, though" Rika said, smirking.
"I'd keep exchanging witty banter with you, but it looks like it's our turn to play," pointed out Ryo as the two boys left the dance platform, "so why don't we let our skills speak for themselves?" Rika could only agree, and so they took their places on the dance pads.
Although the competition was ferocious, it was Rika who won this challenge, her final grade being an A while Ryo's was a B.
"Ahem" coughed Rika as she got down the dance pads, smirking towards Ryo.
"What?" he asked.
"I am waiting for you to take back some comments you made about me earlier" she said, crossing her arms.
"Fine. I apologize about saying that you had no sense of rhythm. You indeed proved that you have a great deal of it. Please find in your heart the kindness to forgive me, O my Queen!" Ryo dramatically said.
"Thank you," she solemnly answered. She added, less solemnly: "And may I remind you that I am in the lead again! Oh yeah, that's right, I'm one victory away from your Goliath card!"
"I wouldn't start celebrating right away if I were you. As they say, it's not over until it's over."
Next up was another shooting game. As Ryo had let Rika choose the first shooting game, she let him choose this one. Ryo selected House of the Dead, and so they walked towards the game booth.
"You know, I've always wondered about something" said Rika while she took her plastic gun.
"What about?"
"Why are arcade guns so brightly coloured?" she asked, waving the bright orange plastic gun in her hand.
Ryo shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's so that parents don't freak out when their kids play with guns that look too realistic? Or maybe it's so that the zombies can see us better?"
Rika chuckled and shook her head. "You know, one thing I like about you is that you always balance out everything smart you do with something equally stupid."
He grinned. "I knew you were crazy about me! It was only a matter of time before you admitted it, you know!"
Rika would have rebutted him, but the game was starting. This time, as Ryo kept his eyes on the screen at all times, the challenge was more even. In fact, they were so even that the competition eventually turned into something a lot like cooperation.
"Watch out, some are coming from your side!" shouted Ryo.
"I see them! Take care of the dogs!" Rika shouted back.
"Careful, I bet some will come out of- the closet! Shoot the closet!"
"OK! Reload, you're low on ammo!"
"Thanks!"
"Dogs again!"
"I'll take care of them; shoot the fat one throwing barrels!"
"More are coming on!"
"I'm throwing a grenade!"
"Good move!"
"Reload!"
"Area cleared! Do we go left of right?"
"Right! Always right!"
"Alright... Oh man, it's taking us downstairs! We should have gone left!"
"You should have said it—enemies coming!"
"Careful! Some are crawling on the floor!"
"Man, those are fast!"
"Pick up those grenades, we're running low!"
"Reload! Some are coming on your left!"
"Ah! I got one on me!"
"Shake your gun to shake it off!"
"I'm trying!"
"Shake it! Harder!"
"I got it off, but I don't have much life left!"
"No enemies here, lets reload!"
"I don't like the look of this tunnel..." mumbled Rika.
"Boss! Boooss!"
"Goodness! It's huge!"
"There's a red spot on its head, I think its weak spot!"
"Careful! It has tentacles!"
"Oh no! He's got me! Help me! Shoot that tentacle!"
"I'm trying! Try to shake yourself out!"
"I'm out, thanks!"
"No prob- God he hits hard!"
"Tentacle! Reload! Reload!"
"Nooooooo!" screamed Rika. "I'm down- Left! Tentacle on your left!"
"Got it!"
"Careful, you don't have much life left... No, he's attacking, don't reload now! No!"
"Nooooooo!" screamed Ryo as his character was given the final blow and the screen faded to black, on which blood-red letters spelled "GAME OVER."
The pair looked bitterly at the screen for a moment before they were able to speak. Rika broke the silence first: "I really, really hate seeing those two words."
"Yeah, me too" acquiesced Ryo. "But you know," he added as an afterthought, "something positive still happened."
The red-head raised an eyebrow. "Really? What?"
"I won this game" he said, grinning.
She narrowed her eyes. "You won a battle. Not the war" Rika reminded him.
"But that's only a matter of time" he answered confidently.
Rika rolled her eyes but made no answer. They had won three games each and the final seventh game would decide the winner. She knew Ryo was no pushover. To win against him would not be easy, but it was possible. They slowly walked to the Soul Calibur III booth. Once in front of it, they stopped.
"This is it" said Ryo.
"Yeah. The final challenge" replied Rika.
Ryo turned towards her, one hand outstretched to her. "May the best one win" he said. Rika took the offered hand and shook it. "May the best one win" she echoed.
With no more words they took their places at the booth. They chose their characters: Rika picked the ninja Taki, and Ryo chose the knight Siegfried.
The fight began.
Rika immediately launched into a very aggressive series of attacks which Ryo was unable to counter. Although Taki lacked strength, her rapidity made her difficult to hit and so Rika was able to win the first round. The girl allowed herself to smirk in Ryo's direction but refrained herself from making any comment. Victory was not hers yet.
Round two began. This time, Ryo was prepared for Taki's quick attack and blocked in consequence. Siegfried being much more powerful than Taki, his counter-attack cost her a good deal of life. Unfortunately for Rika, Ryo had adapted himself well to her fighting style: as he couldn't compete in speed, he was patient, blocked often and waited for opportunities to counter-attack and deal out massive damage. For all of these reasons, the victory went to Ryo for this round. The third round would then be the decisive point in this arcade challenge.
Round three began. This time, Rika feinted to attack but held back at the last second. Ryo blocked, but as there was no attack he was left vulnerable for a split second, time that Taki used to quickly strike him. Siegfried struck back and Taki was projected to the ground, but she was able to get back on her feet before she got hit again. She ran behind Siegfried's back and struck a few times, but he turned around an unleashed a powerful combo that robbed Taki of almost half her health bar. She counter-attacked with a combo of her own, which evened out the score. Every blow was given a proper answer and this game of cat and mouse continued until both Taki and Siegfried were on the very last remnants of their health bars.
Both Taki and Siegfried stopped, warily eyeing each other. Tension was at its peak.
All of a sudden, they leaped towards each other, attacking at the same time...
"Nooooooooo!" and "Yeeeeeeees!" were suddenly heard simultaneously throughout the whole arcade.
As Siegfried's sword had a longer range than Taki's ninjato, his attack had connected first. Ryo was the winner.
Rika dropped to her knees, defeated. "Why?" she moaned plaintively. "Why can't I beat you, Akiyama?"
Ryo let out a slight chuckle before kneeling down next to her. "Come on Rika, don't take it like that! You put up a good fight, but accept your defeat graciously." He then took her arm to put her back on her feet, but Rika snatched her arm away, which resulted in her promptly falling on her behind. Ryo laughed as she gave him a dirty look and picked herself up. Rika's pouty face only made Ryo laugh harder.
When he managed to stifle his laughter, Ryo winked at Rika: "Remember, chocolate chips!"
She folded her arms, scowling. "Yeah, I remember" she said, refusing to meet his eye.
A silence passed.
"Hey, Rika, how much time do we have left before our movie starts?" the blue-eyed boy asked.
She looked at her watch. "About twenty minutes."
"Rika?" Ryo shyly asked, with a hint of plea in his voice.
She turned her eyes to his. "Yes?"
"We still have a few arcade coins left... What do you say we go back to House of the Dead and try to get past the tentacle boss?"
"...Okay."
And so they did.
End of chapter five.