Hello, and welcome to the next chapter of 1-Up Girl. As always, Star vs the Forces of Evil is owned by Disney and Stands are the creation of the brilliant and talented Hirohiko Araki. Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. Enjoy.
1-Up Girl: Chapter 8.
(Right where we left off)
After yet another blinding flash of light, Annie found herself back at Ringo's tower.
And although she was still weakened from the effects of her overlay, the young otaku stood tall.
And how could she not?
She'd just taken on a foe at least ten times her size and come out unscathed; more or less.
But more importantly than that, she'd secured the freedom of yet another captive and brought them one step closer to ending this nightmarish ordeal once and for all.
Just one more win and then she could take on the boss.
"YOU!" roared their captor suddenly; shaking Annie back to reality. "You cheated! I don't know how, but there's no way you could've lifted that sumo demon without doing something hinky!"
"Like you're one to talk." The young otaku shot back defiantly. "You've been rigging that stupid slot machine of yours since game one. All I did was overlay my muscles to give me a little boost. If you ask me, I'd say this makes us even."
"Over what now?"
"Overlay. You know, when you channel your aura into…" Annie paused for a moment as a cheeky grin spread across her face. "Wait… are you seriously telling me that you've never heard of overlaying? You? Mr. Big Tough Look At Me I Think I'm A God Because I'm Sort Of Good At Playing Videogames? Unbelievable."
"Yeah… well… shut up!" the emerald jinn said childishly. "So what if I never heard of this over latch thing! Sounds made up anyway!"
"Oh, I assure you. Overlaying is quite real." Jackie chimed in with a hint of mischief in her voice. "It's an advanced skill that only experienced Stand Users can master. And fortunately for us, Annie and I have the privilege of studying under one of the great masters of this field. The wise and benevolent, Mr. Jefferson Speedwagon himself."
At this, their captor let out a snide chuckle.
"Jefferson? You mean that drunk old bounder you guys are always with?" the emerald jinn asked mockingly. "HA! That's a good one."
"Oh, like you're one to judge!" Annie shot back hotly.
"Indeed." Jackie added on coolly. "Our teacher may have his… demons, but he's still more respectable than you'll ever be. Because unlike you, he cares about other people."
"Oh, is that a fact?" Ringo replied amusedly. "Well, let me tell you something, Missy. Your so-called respectable teacher is anything but. Do you wanna know what I learned about him while I was profiling you guys? There are over six hundred warrants out for his arrest, on five continents, under nineteen aliases. And almost all of them are either for petty larceny or public intoxication. Of course, this was all after 1994, when he was declared legally dead. Before that, he and a bunch of his pals were under federal investigation because they were suspected of smuggling cocaine into the US from South America. Still think your precious Jefferson is so wise and benevolent?"
At first, Annie didn't know how to respond to this. As much as she didn't want to admit it, her captor's words didn't paint a very pretty picture of her beloved teacher.
Fortunately, Britany was able to save the day yet again, with her razor sharp wit and utter lack of tact.
"Ah, shut up." The head cheerleader said bluntly. "I don't know anything about any guy named Jefferson, but anything you've got to say about him is probably all bunk. Just a bunch of random garbage you got off the internet, written by bigger liars than you."
Suddenly, Ringo's smirk turned into a scowl.
"Yes, I agree with Britany." Jackie chimed in. "You can't always trust the information you find on the internet. Even if what you say about Jefferson is accurate, it's probably only half true. I find that things are rarely as cut and dry as they appear. Same goes for people. I mean, for all your talk of being an 'expert profiler' your research never turned up anything about Annie's skills with a bat. And for someone who's been watching our training sessions in the park through a webcam, you seemed awfully surprised by her overlaying. Are there really any webcams or was that just a story you made up to freak us out?"
"There are so webcams!" the emerald jinn replied defensively. "I just… don't always watch them as closely as I should. Sometimes I get a little distracted."
"You're not very bright, are you?"
"Why you little… SHUT UP!"
"Oh, shut up yourself, you big baby." Britany cut in yet again. "And quit stalling. Lightfoot won the last game, so you have to release another prisoner. Those are the rules."
"Yeah… well… No! No, I refuse!" Ringo said childishly. "She cheated! She was supposed to push her opponent out of the ring, not throw him out!"
"Doesn't matter." The young cheerleader replied bluntly. "Lightfoot still won and you still have to let someone go. That's how the game works. You have no choice."
As expected, their captor did not take Britney's comments very well. In fact, he looked like he was about ready to wring her neck. However, much like all the other times before, he just scowled and snapped his fingers. Moments later, Ferguson appeared on the ground beside the girls. And with one final huff, the emerald jinn turned away from them all and said,
"Next Game!"
While Ringo was busy cooking up another ploy, Annie was busy chatting it up with her fellow captives.
"Are you okay, Ferguson?" the young otaku asked the hefty ginger concernedly.
"Yeah, I'm good." He replied while attempting to soothe his still aching nose. "You know, those were some pretty slick moves you had out there, StarFa-Uh… I mean, Annie. Seriously, how did you lift that monstrosity? It must've been like half a ton."
"Oh, you know, it's just a skill I've been practicing. No big deal." Annie answered, attempting to sound nonchalant despite her burning cheeks.
"No big deal? Are you kidding me? You were amazing out there! You were like a superhero!"
"R-R-Really?"
"Totally! I felt like I was in a comic book! I had to pinch myself just to-UMMPH!"
Despite the positive nature of Ferguson's accolades, Annie was quite relieved when Jackie stepped in and put her hand over his mouth. She wasn't really used to getting this much attention and to be honest, it was a little embarrassing.
"I think what Ferguson is trying to say is that we're all proud of you." Jackie said warmly, before switching to a slightly more serious tone. "That being said, I don't think you should try overlaying again."
"Why the hell not?" asked Britany harshly. "With that much power she could plow through the rest of these stupid challenges in no time. And more importantly, we could all get the hell out of here with our lives."
"Maybe so, but it's still too risky." The young skateboarder explained. "Overlaying works by channeling all of your aura, your spiritual power, into one specific part of your body. But if it's done incorrectly or held for too long it can do some serious damage. Annie could tear one of her muscles or short circuit her nerves. Heck, her aura could even stop her heart. No, it's just too dangerous."
"Hmmm, good point." The head cheerleader replied. "Better not use it again, Lightfoot. Last thing we need is you flatlining in the middle of a game."
"Oh, um, okay. But what if he puts me in another Fighting Game?"
"That probably won't happen." Jackie reasoned. "He didn't seem to know anything about overlaying, so he probably doesn't know about the drawbacks. Odds are he thinks you can do that whenever you want, so he'll most likely avoid any type of physical challenges from now on. He'll try to outsmart you, and that's why he'll fail. You're just too clever."
Yet again, Annie found herself blushing profusely.
Honestly, she wasn't quite sure how to process all of this. In the span of little over an hour, her position in the social pecking order had been completely turned upside down. Suddenly, everyone was looking to her like she was some kind of superhero. Telling her how great and amazing she was. Heck, even Britany was being nice to her; sort of.
It was all so strange and alien to her. But kind of nice at the same time. Why, if it weren't for the homicidal maniac holding them captive in a videogame dimension, she might've even called it fun.
"Game Time~ Game Time~ Game Time~"
Ah yes, speak of the devil.
"Time for Round 4, kiddies!" said Ringo, sounding just as manic and deranged as ever. "Category: Other! Game: Brain Drain! Difficulty: 9! Now everybody, say the magic words! HAIL 2 U!"
And just like that, Annie was blinded once again.
When the light faded, the young otaku found herself behind a podium on what appeared to be a late 80s gameshow set. Naturally, her fellow captives were either out in the audience or up in their cages. But strangely enough, their captor was standing behind an identical podium right beside her; looking more like a contestant than a host.
"Hello everybody~ And welcome to Brain Drain! The game where knowledge is rewarded and ignorance is punished, severely." The emerald jinn said threateningly, before switching to a more casual tone. "Nah, just kidding. But seriously though, here are the rules. It's basically just a trivia contest. That big screen up there will ask us fifteen multiple choice questions, covering a wide variety of topics, which we answer by hitting the buzzers on our podiums. Whoever gets the most right out of fifteen wins. Any questions?"
"Um… yes. Shouldn't you be the one asking the questions?" Annie asked confusedly.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I forget to mention? There are a few special minigames in which the player competes against the main villain, Le Jinn, directly. This just happens to be one of them. No big deal. So, are you ready to play or what?"
Needless to say, the young otaku was very suspicious. Why would Ringo choose a game where he had to compete against her directly? And why a trivia contest of all things?
Oh well, even if there was some kind of trick to this, Annie was confident in her academic abilities. Her grades were mostly As and Bs. Her only C was in Home Ec and that was only because she couldn't sew. If any of the questions were about Science, Math, History, Sports Statistics or Anime, she was certain she could get them right, or at the very least make an educated guess.
"Okay, let's do this." She said confidently.
"Alrighty then! Let's get this party started!"
And with a snap of his emerald fingers, the giant screen suddenly sprang to life.
Like a true gameshow professional, Annie readied herself for the first question; positioning her hand just above her buzzer to ensure a quick response once the question was finished loading.
Question 1: In 1215…
BZZZZZZZ!
"The answer is C: The Magna Carta." Ringo said, almost smugly.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Correct!
The counter on his podium suddenly changed from 0 to 1.
'What the heck?' Annie thought to herself confusedly. 'He didn't even wait for the question.'
Quickly dismissing it as dumb luck, the young otaku shook off her confusion and readied herself for the next question.
Question 2: In chemistry, -273…
BZZZZZ!
"A: Absolute Zero."
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Correct!
And just like before, Ringo's score went from 1 to 2.
'What the heck? It happened again.'
Okay, now she was sure he was cheating.
The only problem was she didn't know how.
So the only thing she could do was keep playing and hope for a miracle.
But unfortunately, no such thing occurred.
Every time, the result was the same.
BZZZZZZZ!
"D: Richard the Third."
Correct!
BZZZZZZ!
"B: Halley's Comet."
Correct!
BZZZZ!
"A: 42."
Correct!
BZZZZZZ!
"C: Benjamin Disraeli."
Correct!
BZZZZZZ!
"B: Abattoir."
Correct!
BZZZZZZZZ!
"A: Journey to the West."
Correct!
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Game Over! Player 1 Loses!
Before she even knew what had happened, Ringo had racked up a commanding leader. And with the score already 8 to 0, the game automatically declared it a loss.
Needless to say, Annie was dumbfounded, and a little annoyed.
And her irritation only multiplied when her captor looked over at her with an arrogant smirk and said,
"Who's stupid now, bitch?"
End Notes:
Thanks for reading everybody.
See you next time.
Peace.