Star vs the Forces of Evil is owned by Disney and Stands are the creation of the brilliant and talented Hirohiko Araki. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. Enjoy.
1-Up Girl: Chapter 10.
(Right where we left off)
One flash of light later, and they were all back at the tower.
With a little help from her fellow captives, Annie had once again come out on top.
That's four wins down, now all that remained was the final boss battle and this nightmare would end.
Freedom was close at hand.
And yet, somehow, the young otaku just couldn't allow herself to feel good about it.
She'd known from the start that defeat meant death for her and her classmates, but now it was beginning to look like victory would mean death for someone else.
Granted, Ringo wasn't exactly a choir boy. In fact, he was probably the worst human being Annie had ever met. But to her, the taking of any life was unthinkable; no matter how wretched.
She wanted to live, of course, but could she really bring herself to end the life of another person?
The poor thing was so conflicted, and her captor's freak-out wasn't helping.
"No. No! This can't be happening. Can't be happening!" the emerald jinn muttered to himself like a jabbering mental patient. "I'm the best. The best! I can't lose. Can't lose! Lose and I die. I can't die! I'm the king. The King! King's don't die in rundown arcades. No, no, no, no, no, no. I can't die. Can't die. Can't die!"
This was too cruel, even for him.
Annie couldn't just sit back and watch another human being suffer.
There had to be some way out of this mess that didn't involve someone getting killed.
The only question was how.
Unfortunately, before she could ponder this any further, a puff of emerald colored smoke suddenly shook her back to reality.
Chantelle had just been released from here cage and was already mingling with her fellow captives.
"Ugh! My back!" the young cheerleader groaned as she attempted to fix the aching crick in her spine. "Oh man, I tell ya, sitting in that cage was a nightmare. Zero back support. And that splintery wooden floor was murder on my butt. Know what I mean?"
But instead of replying, everyone just sort of gawked at her like she'd just grown a second head.
"What? Do I have something in my teeth?" she asked innocently.
"No…" answered Brittney, sounding uncharacteristically freaked out. "But… um… how shall I put this? What the hell was that?"
"What?"
"You know what! All that stuff you were saying before. About his organs flying out and everything going black."
"I was just trying to freak him out so he'd lose. It's the same thing you guys were doing."
"Granted. But we stopped short of describing his gruesome death in such vivid detail. And why did you sound so excited while you were doing it? It sounded like you were… getting off."
"Well, I won't deny that I enjoyed watching him suffer a little. I mean, the man is a serial killer. It's only right that he should pay for what he's done."
"You're a little depraved, aren't you?"
"Meh. We've all got a dark side, Brittney. Mine's just a little inkier than most."
"Yeah… I don't wanna be friends with you anymore."
"That's fair."
"Yeah, blah, blah, blah, big paradigm shifts, blah." Ferguson cut in abruptly. "Who cares who did what or why. What matters is that Annie's just one win away from getting us all the heck out of here. You hear that, Oscar? Just one more round and we're headin' home!"
"Huh? Whuh?" went the young hipster from up in his cage. "Oh hey, man. Yeah, that sounds great."
"You know, you've been awful quiet throughout this whole ordeal. Don't tell me you've been sleeping this whole time."
"No man, I've been awake. I've just been takin' it all in, you know. Just kickin' back and watching the universe unfold before me."
"Yeah, that's super. Just don't get too comfortable up there. Cuz once Annie whoops this punk in the boss fight, we can kiss this Arabian Nightmare goodbye. Right, Annie?"
But alas, the young otaku was nowhere to be seen.
"Uh… where did Annie go?" the tubby ginger asked confusedly.
"I believe she is going to try to end this without violence." Replied Jackie calmly.
"WHAT?"
But sure enough, it was true. Annie was standing before the still jabbering jinn; showing no intension of striking him down.
"Oh come on, Annie!" Ferguson shouted in disgust. "Don't do this. The guy's a murderer. He deserves to die."
"Yeah, Lightfoot! Don't wuss out on us now!" Brittney added. "Just kill this freak and we can all go home!"
But of course, the young otaku paid them no mind. She had a moral obligation to at least try to resolve the situation without ending the life of another person.
To quote her favorite manga, 'it was her ninja way'.
"Um… excuse me." Annie said meekly, before quickly forcing herself to speak more firmly. "Excuse me, Mr. Ringo."
Suddenly, the emerald jinn ceased his mad ramblings and spun around to look at her; his left eye twitching all the while.
"What?" he asked harshly.
"Mr. Ringo, although you may not want to admit it, I think it's become abundantly clear that your life is in danger too. And given your current… ur… state of mind, I don't think you're in any shape to fight me in a boss battle." She replied, trying to sound as polite as possible. "But I think I know a way out of this. One where no one has to die."
"Oh really?" he asked, sounding mildly irritated. "And what might that be?"
"Well… this is all just a game, right? Then all you have to do is stop playing."
"What?"
"You know, just recall your Stand and end the game. Then we can all go home. And no one has to die."
"So in other words, you want me to quit."
"Yeah, that way nobody…"
"You want me to quit!" the emerald jinn repeated, his words laced with cyanide and gasoline. "NEVER!"
"But…"
"How stupid do you think I am? I drop my Stand and you twerps 'll pounce on me! Then you'll call the cops and from there it's just a short bus ride from the courthouse to death row!"
"No! That's not what I…"
"SILENCE! Your sorcerer's tricks won't work on me, young Moses! For this is my kingdom! And I am pharaoh!"
"What?"
"I will never, I repeat NEVER, quit in the middle of a game! Not for you, not for anyone! And I don't care how risky it is! I'll play and I'll beat you! I'LL BEAT YOU! Because I'm the best! THE BEST!"
"B-B-But it's just a stupid videogame. It's not worth risking your life over."
"Stupid videogame?" the emerald jinn repeated in what could only be described as quiet rage. "I expected as much from someone like you. I've been taking crap from your kind since I was a kid."
"My kind? What the heck are you talking about?"
"You know, people like you. People who are good at things like sports or arithmetic. People who'd do or say anything just to make me feel small. Well, I showed them. I found something I was good at, and it blew all their precious talents right outta the water."
Suddenly, Ringo's expression softened a bit and his eyes sort of stared off into space.
Then he started to reminisce.
"I… I remember the first time I ever stepped into an arcade. I must've been like ten or eleven years old. It was so cool and dark, I remember thinking that it was just like being underwater. I used to go there everyday after school and watch the older kids play. God, I was so fascinated by the games. They were like little windows into other worlds. Worlds where people weren't bound by the pitiful laws of this reality. One day I finally plucked up the nerve and I walked up to one of the big kids. I said, 'You wanna play a game, Mister?' And you know what happened? I beat him. I beat him. I beat him! I beat him! I beat him! Right on my first try!"
By this point, the emerald jinn was practically foaming at the mouth. So he paused for a moment to calm himself down before he continued.
"After that, the games were all I could think about. Everyday after school I'd be down at that arcade until diner. Then after high school I got myself a job there so I could play for free. I even made a deal with the owner to let me stay over after closing so I could practice. I gave my everything to the games. My time. My energy. My heart. My soul. And after three long years my efforts were rewarded. One night my Stand just… awakened. And for the first time in my life I felt complete. So, no, Little Miss Baseball, I'm not going to quit. Because these games are my life. MY LIFE! So I think it is worth the risk."
Annie suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to gulp in terror.
This wasn't going nearly as well as she'd hoped. It had become disturbingly clear that Ringo wasn't going to back down. He was completely detached from any kind of rational or ethical reality, so talking to him wasn't going to do her any good.
It seemed that there was only one option left.
"Well… if that's really the way you feel, then I guess I have no choice."
"No, you really don't." the emerald jinn said smugly as the sky suddenly grew dark and ominous. "Now, everybody say the magic words~ HAIL 2 U!"
Without any warning, the black clouds above started firing off massive bolts of lightning and a powerful gust of wind suddenly blew across the stage; forcing the young otaku to shield her eyes from the debris.
Moments later when the wind died down, she removed her hands from her eyes and was met with a most alarming sight.
Her fellow captives, Oscar included, were now suspended in what could only be described as swirling balls of wind. But even more shocking than that, their captor had almost decupled in size and was now looking down on her with glowing red eyes.
"You ready to get wrecked?" he asked threateningly.
Naturally, Annie responded to this the same way any normal, emotionally stable person in that situation would.
"Meep…"
End Notes:
Thanks for reading.
This chapter was a bitch to write.
See you next time.
Peace.