Game Central Station was quickly emptying. Characters hurried to their games, chatting amiably as they prepared for the day. The Grand Central Announcer boomed from speakers in every corner, stating clearly, "The arcade will open in five minutes. Please report to your games."

Cole stumbled out of Tea Tapper's, clumsy in his new armor. To his surprise, Surge Protector walked right past him without a second glance. Being 'Dareth' definitely had its advantages.

And its disadvantages. Cole wrinkled his nose inside the helmet and gagged. "Ugh, it smells like ralph in here. Okay, what was it called? Samurai- Samurai something. Samurai's..."

He looked around and gasped in recognition, seeing soldiers in the same uniform as Dareth's going into a game. The sign above read- "Duty! Samuari's Duty. All right."

Straightening his metal uniform, Cole strode toward Samurai's Duty. He wasn't looking where he was going and tripped right over Q*Bert.

"$%#€&!" Q*Bert chirped, confused.

Cole sat up and flipped up the visor on his helmet. "Sorry, Q*Bert. It's just me, Cole. Don't tell anybody."

Q*Bert's eyes went wide as Cole walked awkwardly towards Samurai's Duty. "+\%€ ?"

Outside of Wu's Family Fun Center, the sun was well over the horizon. A young boy in a green employee uniform flipped the sign on the inside from 'closed' to 'open' and unlocked the door next to him.

Wu stood behind him, greeting the customers. "Morning kids, come on in. Good to see you, good to see you. You too, little fellow."

The young employee watched the room carefully as the last people entered and headed to the games. He turned to Wu, bouncing up and down excitedly. "Uncle, Uncle! Okay, I know I normally don't get any spending money until I've worked the counter for a while but there's nobody by Samurai's Duty for once and I really really really wanna play! Please, I'll work later, I promise!"

Wu chuckled as he dug around in his pockets, producing a handful of quarters. "Of course, Lloyd."

Llyod grabbed the quarters eagerly, exclaiming "Yes! Ooo, can I get some candy too?"

"What would Misako say?" Wu asked, raising an eyebrow.

Lloyd slumped slightly in defeat. "Mom'd say not until after lunch."

"Exactly," Wu agreed, tapping his nephew gently on the nose. "You can have some after lunch."

Cheered up again, Lloyd ran off to Samurai's Duty. Wu watched him and laughed as he headed over to man the snack counter.

Inside Samurai's Duty, the last train pulled up to the station and armored samurai piled out. Cole stumbled out last, smiling in awe as he walked.

The game's music was playing intensely in the background. Soldiers were talking and laughing as they ran to their starting spots.

A voice overhead announced, "Quarter alert, quarter alert."

"Oh, sweet golden medal," Cole whispered, pumping a fist in the air. He followed the other soldiers away.

Outside the game, four quarters slid into their slot. Lloyd picked up the sword from on of top the console and aimed it at the screen, grinning.

A deep, suspenseful voice began narrating from inside the screen. "On a planet with no name, a top-secret experiment has gone horribly wrong."

Inside the game, Cole began to push his way through the crowd of samurai in the hull.

"Come on now, hustle up, quiet down," a man in red armor ordered from the front of the room. "The clock is ticking. Let's go."

Cole finally made it to the front of the crowd. Trying to blend in, he cheered, "Rootin', tootin', ready for shootin'!"

The man in red rolled his eyes at Cole. "You're all hot air. Shut up."

Cole didn't argue, but someone else stepped up beside the man.

"Alright, now listen up 'cause I'm only gonna say this once. Fear is a four letter word here, ladies. If you're too chicken to face a CySnake, you're no samurai," a stately woman dressed in red and brown armor instructed as she distributed ono axes and quivers full of arrows.

Cole raised a hand tentatively. "What's a CySnake?"

"Shut up, Private Dareth, I'm not in the mood for your nonsense," the woman ordered, tossing a wicked-looking scythe at him with enough force to knock him over. "It's make your mommas proud time!"

Cole shrugged inwardly. When in Grand Theft Auto, act like a grand thief of automobiles. When in Samurai's Duty... "I love my momma!"

"Heads up! First-Person Shooter coming through!" The man in red yelled.

The samurai made way for a rinky-dink robot with a screen for a head displaying a count-down to game play. Its mechanical arms held a sword and the wheels wobbled to simulate walking. Everyone ignored it and gave it plenty of space.

Cole just stared at it. He'd heard about FPSs before but never seen one. This was awesome.

A voice announced "Gameplay in three, two, one..."

The woman in red and brown faced the FPS, expertly twirling a pair of daggers. "We are humanity's last hope. I'm Sergeant Nya Calhoun, this is my second in command Kai, these are my men, and this is our mission: destroy all CySnakes!"

Cole bounced up and down antsily behind the FPS. He was SO ready to go!

Nya forced a smile towards the FPS and consequently, Lloyd in front of the console. "You ready, rookie? Let's find out."

The door opened and Cole leaned forward eagerly. When he glimpsed the real game, he leaned back as quickly as possible.

The view took his breath away, and not in a good way. The wind howled and tore viciously at the characters, the terrain was sharp and menacing. Twisted buildings rose from the ground, half destroyed. Giant THINGS swooped through the air around the tallest building.

Cole focused his gaze on one and gasped. It was a snake with wings that looked like lasers sprouting from its back, fangs protruding dangerously from its gaping mouth, and mechanical legs supporting its every move. He gulped. "Oh no."

The samurai screamed a battle cry in unison and charged the CySnakes, led by Nya and Kai. Cole was swept along with them, screaming even louder in terror.

Nya ignored everything, pointing at the closest terror. "CySnake, twelve o' clock! Take it, newbie!"

As the real samurai began taking down snakes and the FPS controlled by Lloyd just stared at everything, Cole went around in a panic. This was not what he'd expected. He swung his scythe randomly, running at everything.

"Watch out, rookie!" Nya instructed Lloyd. "These monsters become what they eat."

Just she said that, a CySnake wrestled Cole's scythe out of his hand.

"Hey!" Cole shouted, punching it. "Give that back!"

The CySnake's arm morphed into a scythe and began swinging. Cole turned and ran, screaming like a little girl.

Nya brought down a few snakes before recognizing her next cue. She turned back to the FPS. "Break the eggs before they hatch!"

"Ew, there's something coming out of their tails," Cole groaned, running to hide behind Nya.

Lloyd watched in confusion as Kai came into his view, grabbed Cole by the shoulder, and effortlessly tossed him away, yelling, "Dareth! Stay in formation."

Nya turned to the screen, back on script. "All right people, the kitten whispers and tickle fights stop now. The entrance to the lab is straight ahead."

"Yes!" Cole jumped out from behind a rock he taken cover by. "I'll meet you guys inside!"

"Stop!" Nya ordered. Kai just groaned.

Cole didn't listen. He ran straight to the building, yelling, "Sanctuary! Sanctuary!"

As soon as he crossed the bridge, he alerted a sensor. The laboratory doors flew open and a flood of CySnakes poured out.

Cole screamed again. He ran, hurtling across the ground until he tripped and fell onto the FPS. His face smushed against the screen, Cole continued to freak out. "Ahhh! I thought this was going to be more like Centipede! When did video games become so violent and scary?"

Lloyd's mouth fell open. He watched Cole pull his face off the FPS and continue howling, "Save me! Get me outta here!"

Unknown to the fake samurai, a huge snake came up behind him. It reared, licking its lips.

Lloyd dropped the sword and instinctively yelped, "Look out!"

"Wha-" Cole whirled around and picked up the FPS to use as a shield. "Take it!"

Jaw hanging open, Lloyd watched as the camera angle whipped up to the jaws of a giant CySnake, then crashed to the ground as if the FPS has fallen over dead.

"Game over," the game announced. "To continue playing, insert four quarters."

Lloyd put down the sword and wandered off, shaking his head in confusion.

Cole kept wrestling the CySnake, shouting, "Hey! It's game over, get off!"

"Beacon up!" Kai shouted. "Cease fire!"

A chorus of samurai voices echoed his order across the game.

A bright light suddenly shined through the lab building and out the top. All the CySnakes froze and turned their scaly bodies around. Charmed by the light, they flew into it and were zapped to death.

"I used to hate Nicelanders the most," Cole grumbled as he picked himself up. "Now, I officially hate snakes."

"Return to start positions," a voice called overhead. "Return to start positions. Return to start positions. Return to-"

Cole tuned out and looked at the downed FPS, hefting it to its feet and dusting it off. "Here, let me help. You must be angry..."

Annoyed, the FPS swatted him away and rolled off in a huff, pausing only to gather up its sword.

"Sorry!" Cole called futilely after it.

"Dareth!" Nya ran towards the false samurai. Kai followed close behind at a slower pace, scowling and crossing his arms.

"Who?" Cole asked before realization set in. "Oh yeah, Dareth, I'm Dareth. That's me."

Cole raised his chin, standing at attention to avoid attention. Nya reached him, reared back, and clocked him in the helmet with the handle of her dagger, hard.

Cole yelped in pain as Kai trotted up to them.

"What's the first rule of Samurai's Duty?" The male second-in-command demanded.

"...No cuts, no butt, that is not a coconut?" Cole guessed.

Nya clocked him again, this time with the other dagger. "No! Never interfere with the first person shooter. Our job is to get the gamers to the top of that building so they can get a medal, and that's it. So stick to the program, samurai!"

"Right, right, aye aye, captain!" Cole yelled. To be honest, he would've said anything to keep Nya from hitting him again.

Nya rolled her eyes, but sheathed her daggers as the announcer called out a quarter alert. She walked off, Kai following, as she called, "All right, wimps, back to your starting positions! Let's go again!"

Cole snorted to himself and muttered, "Yeah, right. No way I'm going through that again."

He turned his gaze to the formidable building, slowly coming up with a plan. "So that's where they keep the medal, huh?"