Jack and Sally reached the next stop on their list in record time.
After she was done taking strangled breaths, Sally looked at the sign with half-lidded eyes and they instantly shot open when she saw where they were. She gave a squeal of delight.
"The arcade! Yes! I love arcades!" she said as Jack watched her dance around.
Jack tried not to focus on her hypnotic swaying.
"W-why do you like them so much?" he managed to get out.
Sally stopped her little celebration and stared at the dark building with what looked like nostalgia. A light smile graced her face.
"When I was a kid... my family didn't have much money. But at the arcade, games were just twenty-five cents a pop. I could stay for hours with only five bucks in my pocket."
In that moment, Jack could have sworn that Sally was a child again. Bright eyed, excited, about to enter her favorite place as a child. It almost made him feel like he was trespassing on something private, a precious memory for only her to have.
And yet... he did want to be here with her. Regardless of the job. He wanted to be apart of someone else's fond memories. He wanted... he wanted someone to remember him as a friend.
Sally, no matter the fact they had only known each other for a short time, was his only real friend. If that at all.
"If you want... we can come back here once the job is finished." he said quietly.
Sally stared in shock and then grinned.
"If we do, don't be too heartbroken when I kick your butt at video games." she said teasingly.
Jack chuckled.
"Is that any way to talk to your boss?" he said humorously.
Sally realized his point and sweated nervously. She laughed anxiously and wrung her hands.
"Heh... sorry sir."
"I'm just joking with you. Of course you would kick my butt. I don't think I've ever even played a video game." he said honestly.
"Really?" sally said, amazed. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get in there!"
Sally pumped her fist in excitement and ran through the tinted glass doors. Jack sighed at the sheer amount of energy she had stored in that tiny body and ran after her.
"Remember, we're not here to play games. We're working."
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The pair walked into a brightly lit room, with gaming consoles against the walls and a small prize stand where tickets were cashed. The floor was made of yellow and red tiles, and the walls had drawings of various video game characters painted on them.
There was a sticky soda machine pushed into a corner.
A rusty token exchanger was in the center of everything.
Even though the room was not very large, it was full of kids.
Sally turned in a circle around her, taking everything in with her arms spread. There was a big smile on her face.
"I remember this!" she said excitedly. "This is the kids corner! It's full of kid-friendly games for pree-teens and children. I used to come in here all the time 'cause I wasn't old enough to go into Gamer Central."
"Gamer central?" Jack questioned.
"Well, the games in this room aren't very fun. If you really want to have a good time though, you go to where legends are born. You see that doorway over there?" Sally said, pointing to a door on one of the walls that had a neon sign over it reading Gamer Central. "That's where all the good games are. The real violent ones with virtual aliens and 3D effects so intense they could make your eyeballs vomit."
"Oh... how... charming." Jack said blanching slightly.
Sally nodded and crossed her arms.
"In Gamer Central, there is legitimate competing. You don't just play for fun in there, you play to win. I've only heard stories, but the word was that certain games had special prizes if you could beat the high score. Kids from different cities came all the time to try and claim a prize."
"What kind of prizes?" Jack asked curiously.
"All sorts of things." Sally said knowingly. "One kid got a gift card that entitled him to free arcade visits for life. Another kid won some sort of go-cart. I think one kid even got himself a pair of samurai swords. I've only heard this through ear, though."
Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Through ear? You've never actually seen any of this?"
"I've never been inside." Sally said.
"Why not?"
"You have to be fifteen or older to go in there. I would have gone in there on my fifteenth birthday, but I had managed to save up to buy a gamecube by then. So I never really got to see it."
She almost looked sad, staring at the door with a clear curiosity that was desperate to be sated. Jack glanced around Kids Corner and smiled.
"Well, Sally, it looks like your dream is going to come true. I don't see any back office in this room, which means..."
He waited patiently while it slowly dawned on Sally what he meant.
"... We'll have to go into Gamer Central to find it!" she finished excitedly.
"I'll let you lead the way." Jack said with a smile.
She jumped for joy and jogged over to the door. She rubbed her hands together and reached for the handle. Sally was about to push through the door when a kid suddenly ran over and called out to her.
"Wait! Miss, please wait!" the young boy said.
Sally looked irritated that her moment of truth was being interrupted and turned to the boy with an annoyed scowl.
"What?" she snarled.
The boy, as well as Jack, gulped at her surprising viciousness. The boy nervously twisted his foot and meekly took a step back.
"W-well miss, I don't think it's in your best interest to go in there."
"Believe me, kid. My only interest right now is to go in there." Sally said.
"Yes. We really do need to enter, young man." Jack said patiently. "Why should we not?"
The boy stuck his hands in his pockets and looked down angrily. He directed his voice at the door, as if belligerent towards it, when he spoke.
"'Cause... that jerk is in there!" he said.
Sally's gaze softened a bit and she bent down to his eye level.
"Jerk?" she questioned.
The boy nodded and crossed his arms, sticking out his lower lip.
"Yeah, Ethan. He's about the most stuck-up, arrogant, meanest person on the planet. He sucks. But he has control over all of Gamer Central. He has a huge gang of cronies at his side at all times and monopolizes all of the games, and he'll only let you play if you give him a tribute every month."
"Tribute?" Jack asked.
"One twelve-pack of mountain dew and a pair of lace panties. Unless you can afford the mountain dew and know someone to steal the panties from, it's a useless effort to go in. he'll just kick you out." the kid said sadly.
"Wait." Sally said, now interested. "This kid has been bullying all of you and you haven't complained to management? Just tell them what he's doing and they'll stop it."
The kid hung his head and shook it forlornly.
"We can't, miss."
"Why not?" Sally said exasperatingly.
"Because, Ethan is the management."
Jack scratched his head in confusion.
"What? What are you talking about?"
The boy sighed.
"Listen closely, because I'm about to tell you a story."
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So it turned out that Ethan was the technical owner of the arcade.
About a year ago, the previous owner had announced his retirement and said that the Arcade was going under new management. However, there was a twist. The store wasn't going to be sold, it was going to be won.
The owner said that before he left, he would hold a tournament. It was centered around the oldest machine in the arcade, a game called Planet Hopper. He said that it was the first game he had ever put in the arcade and that he, himself, held the highest score on it.
So he proposed that the person who could beat his high score would win the deed to the arcade. He said that it would be the greatest prize to win.
Everyone tried. Everyone failed. Adults attempted to beat it, as did children. Young and old, big and small, everyone who frequented the arcade tried their best.
Some got far, and others didn't. Many got extremely close to beating it, but none ever quite made it.
Until Ethan showed up.
And he beat it. He did it on his first try. Just like that, the store was his. And as the boy explained, he used it to take over and cut out the kids that came for some video games and fun. He only let the ones who could afford his tribute into Gamer Central.
"I can't believe it." Sally said angrily. "That little jerk is a totalitarian! What about all the kids that want to go into Central but don't have money? It isn't fair!"
"I know it isn't, miss. But there's nothing we can do about it. If we complain to him, he can just kick us out."
Jack agreed with him. Ethan deserved a good beating for using his power to control others.
Jack had sworn to never abuse his status when he entered the world of politics. His sense of justice also caused him to loathe those who rubbed their privileges in people's faces just because they could.
And on a different day, he might have done something about the situation in the arcade. But, they were running out of time. They only had time for getting paperwork, not sorting out diplomatic issues.
"Well, young man, we would love to help you... but I'm afraid we just don't have time. But, one day soon we'll come back and try and sort out this conundrum, right Sally?" he said, turning to Sally.
Sally was clenching her fists and the veins on her neck were standing up. He face was incredibly red and she was shaking in anger.
"S-Sally?" Jack asked hesitantly.
Sally's teeth clenched and she turned to the door with obvious intent.
"I'm going to cream that little punk." she whispered dangerously as she shoved the door open and stormed inside.
Jack had a bad feeling and ran after her, fearing the worst.
"Sally, don't do anything rash!" he called out as he too disappeared into the darkness of Gamer Central.
The young boy stared at the slowly closing door and shook his head despondently.
"Poor fools." he said as the door closed with an ominous boom.
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All around, the sound of bleeps and bloops filled the air. Flashing neon lights flickered in random patterns from various screens spread all around. Kids of all ages ran through the blackness to different screens and the sounds of virtual reality rang through the air.
` Sally didn't notice any of it. She was too buy fuming and looking for Ethan.
As she walked, she remembered all those awful times when she was a kid. All the people that called her poor. All those jerks that made fun of her for not wearing new clothes. All the restaurants she never got to go into. Those moments when she could hear people laughing behind her back.
She had always been looked down upon. Always pushed around. Because she didn't have money.
This had been the one place where she was safe. Where everyone knew everyone and no one was judged. Some kids brought a twenty dollar bill and others only had a single dollar to spend. It didn't matter, nobody cared.
And now her sanctuary was being invaded. By everything she despised. And it only fueled her anger as she kept thinking about it.
Yes... the only thing on her mind was finding Ethan and teaching him a lesson.
Sally didn't slow down as Jack ran to catch up to her. He was out of breath from trying to find her in the dark enclosure.
"Sally, what are you doing?" he said between puffs of air.
"I'm bringing justice, mister Skellington. Follow my lead."
As they continued through the realm of darkness, curious heads turned to look at them in confusion. Though it was unclear at first, Jack slowly came to realize that the kids weren't paying attention to him at all, all eyes were on Sally.
He could her faint whisperings of "Whoa it's a girl" and "She's kinda hot" as they walked.
Tch. Bunch of hormone-driven losers.
Sally did not slow in pace until they reached the dead center of Game central.
There was a big clearing on the blue carpet to accommodate for what was in the middle. About a thousand boxes of mountain dew were stacked up like a pyramid, and at the top was a beaten looking red armchair. On the chair was about a hundred pairs of panties, acting as a second cushion.
Around the caffeinated and perverted throne a bunch of teenagers milled around, chatting amongst themselves and drinking soda. Most of them had their own little piles of ladies underwear to recline on.
And the top piece was the kid sitting on the armchair with a burger king crown on his head. He was fat, and pale, wearing a striped shirt. His feet barely hung off the armchair, proving how short he was. He had a mean look on his chubby face, with a permanent scowl deep set into his features.
He looked bored at the moment, swinging his feet and absentmindedly squeezing a pimple on his chin. For whatever reason, that made Sally even angrier.
She planted herself in front of the soda throne and pointed at Ethan.
"Hey, you!" she shouted to him.
He ceased his pimple popping and looked down at her from his throne. His brows furrowed at the sight of a girl in the arcade and he spoke in his mid-puberty voice as loud as possible.
"How dare you speak to the king in such a rude way! You shall treat me with respect, when you are in my presence. What are you doing here? What do you want?" he said angrily.
The sound of their outbursts alerted the mass of kids in the Center. Word traveled fast and soon everyone was concentrated in the throne room, in a circle around Sally, Jack, Ethan, and his cronies.
"I want..." Sally said dramatically, "... To challenge you to a game of Planet Hopper!"
A collective gasp went through the crowd and all heads turned to gauge Ethan's reaction. To everyone's surprise, he started laughing.
"Bwa ha ha ha! Idiot girl! Do you actually think you could possibly beat me at that game? Are you mental?" he said as the crowd of kids began cruelly laughing with him.
Sally spoke in a very sweet, sarcastic tone.
"Oh... you don't think I can win?" she said mockingly.
He smiled deviously.
"I know you can't win, girl."
Sally growled in annoyance. She only liked it when Jack said things like that. It was charming when he did it.
But no matter. Her plan was still in effect.
"Alright then, how about we make a bet? We'll decide the stakes for whichever one of us wins or loses."
Ethan smiled wider and leaned forward.
"Interesting. What happens if I lose this game?"
"you hand over the deed to the arcade." she said bluntly.
Another gasp went through the crowd. Ethan looked uncomfortable, but he didn't flinch. She saw a bead of sweat roll down his forehead.
"Alright, whatever. But if I win, then you have to give me your panties."
Sally was surprised. That wasn't so bad, actually. Certainly not as bad as she had thought it would be.
Ethan's mouth curled into a devilish grin.
"... After you take them off in front of everyone." he said smugly.
Sally, as well as Jack, turned beat red as the crowd let out a chorus of cheers and hollers. Sally fought to keep the tremble out of her voice and responded.
"Fine! I accept!" she said determinedly.
Ethan threw back his head in laughter and stood up from his throne, walking down the steps of mountain dew with a confident swagger. He cracked his knuckles and walked over to face Sally's angry gaze.
"I can't wait to see what kind of panties you're wearing, girl." he said lecherously.
"W-wait! Hold on! This is going too far!" Jack said, trying to reason with everyone. "Look, we're from town hall and we're collecting paperwork, so if we could just see the office-"
"Too bad!" Ethan interrupted. "Since your friend was so rude to me, you won't be getting anything. She dared to challenge me and there is no going back."
"I figured that would be the case." Jack muttered sadly as Sally and Ethan walked away.
They both came over to the Planet Hopper machine and the crowd followed them. They stood in front of the old system and faced each other. One of Ethan's cronies plugged it in and the screen flickered on.
On the screen the scoreboard was displayed and the name Ethan was displayed at the top with the highest score.
"I'll be going first, since I'm the king." he said snidely.
Sally just frowned and stepped back so Ethan could press start.
Right away, Jack could tell that this kid wasn't just talk. He was blasting through the levels with incredible speed, without getting any damage. Jack watched Sally's reactions, anxious to see if she was intimidated, but her face was a blank slate.
After about twenty minutes of nonstop game play, Ethan turned to the crowd and took a phony bow. The scoreboard now had a different score at the top, and a murmur of amazement went through the crowd.
"Unbelievable..."
"He got an even higher score than last time!"
"That girl doesn't stand a chance."
Jack too was worried for Sally. After all, she was up against a pro. Did she really have even a chance of winning? Sally still wasn't showing any emotions and Jack had no idea what she was thinking. Was she afraid? Inspired? Regretful?
Ethan turned to Sally with an exaggerated gesture and motioned to the machine.
"All yours."
Sally cracked her neck as a bunch of snickers came from the crowd. A bunch of insults were thrown her way as she walked over to the console. Jack felt sorry for her and was about to silence the kids when Sally suddenly hit start before anyone was ready.
In a total of seven seconds, Sally had already beaten the first level.
Total silence spread through the crowd as Sally turned to the mass, her hands still working the controls and moving the character expertly through the levels. She smiled innocently.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that I had the version of Planet Hopper on Game cube? I've also played it three consecutive hours a day for the past seven years."
Everyone stared in shock as Sally laughed and went back to playing. Ethan looked like he was about to explode in anger, and Jack was beaming with pride. How could he have possibly doubted her? He should have know better that Sally could be this clever.
He watched in aw as she blasted through countless levels and her score steadily rose. Her hands moved so rapidly he could barely see them. Her face was staring at the screen in complete concentration.
Looking over at Ethan,he looked worried. It was becoming more and more apparent that he was going to lose. This was further driven by the fact the kids were beginning to cheer her on, shouting out support.
Ethan chewed his thumb in frustration and turned to his gang of lackeys.
"Dammit... she's going to beat me. I have no choice, go mess her up!"
His goons nodded and stomped over to Sally, who didn't even notice their presence and kept right on playing.
Just as one of them was about to grab her, Jack jumped through the air and landed perfectly between Sally and the troupe. He smiled creepily and pointed menacingly at the leading lackey.
"Oh, my... you weren't thinking of cheating,wereyou?" he said mockingly.
The leader took a tentative step back, but raised his shaking fists.
"W-whatever, man! Just get out of the way, or we'll beat you up, too!"
Jack raised his leg up to it's full height threateningly and narrowed his eyes.
"I'd love to see you try. And by the way, I'm not above kicking kids. Especially annoying ones."
As Sally continued raising her score, she could hear the sound of fighting going on in the back round. Doing her best to drown it out, she kept on playing.
She was getting tired, though. Her hands were numb and her eyes hurt. She knew she was so close to winning though, she could almost taste it.
As she neared the finish, Sally kept hearing loser and worthless reverberate through her mind. All of them, teasing her. Mocking her. Making her feel like garbage. She hated them, but were they right? Did she ever have any hope of winning?
What if she lost? She would have to go through total humiliation in front of Jack. She didn't want that. She wanted his respect. She wanted him to believe in her abilities.
But s she kept thinking she just felt more and more inadequate. She should just give up before she embarrassed herself. She could already feel herself slipping. It was only a matter of time before she lost.
She turned away from the screen and lifted her hands slightly from the controls. She was about to let go when she caught sight of Jack, ankle deep in fallen bodies, panting heavily. He saw that she was looking at him and smiled. He gave her a thumbs-up and mouthed the words you can do it over the sound of the uproarious crowd.
And that was all she needed.
Snapping her attention back to the game, she squeezed the controls with renewed vigor. She knew that the end was approaching soon. The cheers of the crowd grew louder to cover up Ethan's screams, Jack shouted support, and Sally became one with the game.
There it was! The final point she needed! It was close in sight, she was approaching it fast, and she grabbed it. Her score clicked up a single point, putting her final score above Ethan's and declaring her the winner.
The kids went mad with applause as she turned from the game and took several deep breaths. Jack ran over to her and gave her a high-five. Sally smiled and hugged him tightly, shaking with pent-up nervousness.
"You did it, Sally. You won." he said with pride.
"Yeah... I did, didn't I?" she said quietly.
A high pitched wail cut through the sound of cheers and the crowd parted to reveal Ethan on the floor, on his hands and knees, throwing a tantrum.
Sally's face turned cold and she strolled over to the fallen kid.
"Well well well. If it isn't our little king. I hope you've got that deed ready for me."
He glared up at her and spat on her shoes.
If Sally was angry before, now she was furious. In the next minute that followed, she did several things to him so horrific that I find myself unable to write them down. Suffice to say, it was not pleasant.
After he had been reduced to a shivering, foaming shell, she held out her hand expectantly.
"Let's try that again. Give me the deed."
He reached a shaking hand into his pocket and pulled it out. She snatched it from his hand and placed her foot on him, addressing everyone.
"One last thing. From now on, I want everyone addressing me as the queen, her highness, or mistress, got it?" she said threateningly.
All the kids, along with Jack, who had been watching in horror snapped to attention.
"Yes, my Queen!" they shouted in unison.
She turned to Jack and he stared at her in awe and admiration. She blushed slightly under his gaze and cleared her throat.
"Alright, now that we've cleared that up we can get the paperwork."
Jack nodded and smiled as Sally marched off with her head held high, eventually following her.
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Jack and Sally stood outside the arcade as the sun was beginning to set.
Sally had long since calmed down from her overdose of royalty and was embarrassingly twisting her hair. She refused to meet Jack's eyes.
"I can't believed I acted like that in there... I was so mean..."
"Don't worry about it. You actually looked pretty cool." Jack teased.
"Ohh, don't say that! I was a total bitch! I don't usually act like that, but I just felt so-"
"Like I said, don't worry about it. By the way, what did you do with the deed?" he asked.
"I gave it to that kid we met at the entrance. I think he had a pretty good idea about how the arcade should be won, so I'm not worried." she said.
"Are you sure?" Jack said delicately. "You loved that arcade. Owning it might more of a fun job than working for me."
Sally chuckled and smiled at Jack.
"It was tempting, but I think I'm having more fun being by your side. So I'd like to continue being your assistant, if that's alright."
"You're not going t hear any complaints from me." he said happily.
"Let's get going, then. The sun is setting and we're running out of time."
She turned and began walking up the street, but Jack stayed slightly behind, staring at her retreating back. He smiled as a light blush graced his face and he whispered so that she couldn't hear him.
"As you wish, my queen."
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Heh heh! Sorry about the wait. It took me forever to write this chapter because I had to keep revising it because everytime I wrote something it just didn't seem good. Well, here's what I came up with. I hope you like it, because my fingers hurt like a motherfucker.