Lost In Purple
Chapter 74: Prismatic Play
Melanie's POV
"Go ahead Melanie, he should be waiting inside for you," Chip directs as he tears off the piece of duct tape placed over Bruisers mouth.
"Grrrr, why you puttin' tape on me?!" Bruiser growls.
"Because you're being infuriating today! Now leave me alone and let Melanie have her time with Johnny! GOD!" Chip screams.
He opens the car door and slams it shut so that he can stomp away up to the front door, sending a shockwave all the way to the curb. I don't quite understand why it took pretty much nothing for him to snap like that, but maybe something happened during the time I was gone for his patience to wear thinner than a strand of hair.
Bruiser looks confused and puts his finger out to his mouth. "…I'm infer-infra…in-inf…infar-"
"Infuriating, Bruiser," I interrupt.
"What does that mean?" He asks.
I look over to Javier so that I can get some confirmation on whether or not he's serious, but I just see him rubbing his temples with all four of his hands and closing his eyes. How can they be this tired of him? He's so cute and…well, stupidly hilarious! But…now I have to give him a quick lesson on English so that he can understand.
"It…um…it means that you were making Chip angry for…being annoying," I answer with a wince.
Bruisers eyes grow wide and then he hyperactively tries opening the door, clawing at the handle but forgetting to unbuckle himself.
"Wait wait wait! Bruiser stop for a second!" I exclaim while laughing.
I have to exit and round the vehicle so that I can open the passenger side door. When I get there, I see Bruiser sitting on the seat like a dog does in the human world. His feet stick out horizontally and his stare is almost cartoonish when his three eyes pierce into yours. It only gets funnier when I unbuckle him from the seat and help him down from his elevated position. Once he stands upright in front of me, I dust him off and make sure his ripped up ROR jersey is on straight before giving him a kiss on his right most eye, making it crumple for a second before returning to normal.
While Javier and Chip hated the ride home, I found it fun and nostalgic. Bruiser made it feel like I never left and that there's no reason for this reunion to be awkward, so I figured that I could at least give him a tiny bit of gratitude.
"Thanks for making me feel at home Bruisey," I whisper, "Now go bother Chip some more for me."
His stare goes beyond the horizon itself, but his control eventually returns. He shakes his head and laughs goofily before running to the front door, preying on Chips' sanity. He happily grunts with each step, "Annoy Chip annoy Chip annoy Chip, don't let Miss Melanie down don't let her down don't let her down."
The moment the door opens is when raised voices echo through the empty halls and then reverberate outside. The voices are pretty easy to make out. It sounds like Chet is bawling his eyes out while Johnny and Chip are screaming in anger. I can't tell who is yelling at who, but it sounds like something I wouldn't like getting caught up in.
I can sense Javier walking up beside me and leaning down so that he's on my level. "So you're giving out kisses now? May I ask where mine is?"
"Hm? Oh!" I exclaim before giving him a big smooch on his cheek.
His body jolts and he stands tall while placing on of his hands on his cheek. His antennae have lowered and his eyes have gone all googly. I wouldn't be surprised if his heart rate has skyrocketed either. I think I might have made a mistake.
"Wh-I…I w-wasn't serious," He stammers.
"Oh I'm sorry!," I shout while covering my eyes, "You've just been so nice to me even after everything, and you came to see me in the hospital, and then you drove me all the way her-!"
"N-no, that's my fault. I forget that I shouldn't crack jokes like that with you Miss Everett. You're the kind of person to love unconditionally... and since I've been doing that with the PNKs for years, it's kind of become a nasty habit of mine," He blushes.
"I-it's ok," I laugh nervously, "I just…hope you know that you and your friends are all really sweet boys."
"Hehe… gracias amiga. We're lucky to have met you," Javier adds while recomposing himself.
The screaming from inside the house grows louder and makes Javier go from relaxed to serious. "Lo siento Melanie, but I should... probably see what this is about."
I nod and ask if I should just wait out here or go inside with him.
"Whatever you feel like, but I can tell Señor Johnny to meet you out here if you'd like," He answers during his adventure towards chaos.
"No need!" Johnny hollers as he bursts from the front door with his fingers between his eyes, "Just give me the keys, and for the love of all that is holy, get it through Chet's head that he's an unbearably disrespectful hermit crab!"
Javier stands at the front door in utter shock, debating on whether he shouldn't ask about the situation. His curiosity got the better of him. "E-eh…What happened Señ-"
"Give me the keys!" Johnny aggressively begs.
Those four slender arms slide all around his body and partially in every direction around him before he's able to dig the keys out of his jersey. He basically turned into one of those wacky inflatable tube men you see on the side of those thrift shops in the middle of nowhere. I would have died laughing if Javier just deflated onto the pavement after clumsily releasing the keys from his terrified being, but at the same time, I would have been scared if Johnny didn't catch them and had to pick them of the front lawn. His wrath would have likely changed targets after that.
The big purple demon that's supposed to be having a good time then turns away from Javier, and stomps towards me with fury. I feel my ears flop down and my tail go between my legs when his eyes meet mine, and I nearly yelp when he leans his body down to pick me up with one arm. I'm thrown over his shoulder as he opens the Roar Rovers' door and then tossed in there like some sort of animal at the zoo. After the door is shut, I place my head next to the window to see Javier nervously waving goodbye to me, so I give him a wave goodbye. He then disappears into the house after slowly closing the door with concern of what's happening both out here and inside. I about jump out of my clothes when the drivers side door clicks open and Johnny sinks into the seat before leaning over the center console, wrapping his hand around the back of my head, and pulling me into a steamy kiss. His minty fresh breath and growls make me feel a variety of emotions. There's euphoria and exhilaration, but there's also a hint of anxiety and awe. I even feel entranced when I see that his eyes are closed and all the tension in his shoulders slowly vanish. He really does feel better when it's just me and him.
I'm able to push him off me after I notice that he's running out of breath, frustrated with how he's decided to greet me after the hour long drive up here. "Jonathan Worthington!"
"What?! Can I not kiss you after not seeing you for so long?" He scoffs.
"John you know that's not what I'm referring to! Why are you so angry?! Shouldn't you be excited or something?!" I rebuke.
"Ugh…," Johnny groans while rolling his eyes and resting his head on the steering wheel, "I can't tell you because I was trying to surprise you and Chet nearly ruined it."
"Jooooohn, you know I hate surprises," I wail.
"EXACTLY," He growls, "Now because he started all of this, you know about it! You'll be scared about it the whole day! All I want to do is…grrRRRRR!"
"Ok ok ok, just take some deep breaths for me," I say while pushing my hand underneath his sweater and rubbing his back, "I promise I won't worry about it. Your surprises are never anything to actually worry about anyways."
Wow…so much has happened and I've only been here for like, what, two minutes? Three minutes? Like seriously, how am I already trying to calm Johnny down? Was Chet that much of an undisciplined child to send him into a mental breakdown.
"You're not actually that mad at him are you?" I ask.
He doesn't answer. He's hiding his head with his arms, while resting his head on the steering wheel. His breathing feels forced and heavy, which I can feel while rubbing his back…You know, it still bothers me how strong this monster is. I can even feel his well-toned muscles while doing this.
"…No…but I told him how much this meant to me and he still decided to be a holy terror that nearly ruined everything," Johnny growls.
"Well then why did you let him tag along?" I genuinely ask.
"Mel…HE DOES NOT LEAVE ME ALONE…He even tries to finish my own sentences and try to finish my homework for me!" Johnny replies while finally lifting his head from the wheel and gazing into my eyes.
"Well yeaaah! You're his hero John, have you seen the way he looks at you when you do anything related to scaring. It was almost cute how much he admired you during the, uh…scare games... when I was there... but all he wants is to be exactly like you when he's all grown up," I say attempting to calm him down.
"Tsh…he's got a long way to go," Johnny scoffs.
Johnny puts the key in the ignition and turns it to send the engine into overdrive. It roars to life and causes the car to makes some gentle sounding beeps that tell us we don't have our seatbelts fastened.
"Do I still have a long way to go then?" I ask.
Johnny raises one of his eyebrows while looking over to me. "Huh? Aren't you done with Scaring?"
"I am yeah, but I just want to say that if Chet still has a long way to go then I must of had literal light years to traverse through before I could ever dream of being like you," I reply with a smile.
His murderous look turns scornful yet filled with dismay. "Why do you always say that about yourself? If anything you were closer to being a Scarer than I was."
"Oh don't lie John, those Scaring Scouts wouldn't have even batted an eye if they saw me pull off a scare in real time," I respond with my arms crossed and eyes closed.
"Mel please, I really mean it. Even though I love you, you still scare the shit out of me and everyone around us. I'm not going to argue with you on this because you know I'm right," Johnny sighs.
"I'm fine with that. As long as you're still not seething about Chet then I'm happy," I say raising my snout up a little.
Johnny freezes and then looks over to me with furrowed eyebrows. "He deserves it you know. Thinking he can act that way around my mother."
"Your motheeeerrrr? John, you're literally the biggest child I know, there's no way she felt offended or disgusted in Chet's presence. I mean she raised the biggest child that I know," I argue.
"Why are you being mean to me?" Johnny whines.
"Because you're being mean to Chet. Don't you dare think I didn't hear him crying in the house when I first heard the door open. I should smack you upside the head for making him feel that way," I hiss.
I can see the guilt steadily building on his face, which means that my words are somehow getting through to him.
"Like seriously John, it's so unnecessary to treat people like that. All he wants to do is hang out and have fun with you, yet you're judging every little facet of his personality. And what's worse is that you know he didn't have anything but good intentions when he was with you. What happened to changing and not being so hypercritical about everything all the time?" I continue blathering.
Johnny sighs while putting his hands on the steering wheel and tapping it with his fingers. He lets out a low, deep growl before saying, "…You're right. I'm sorry Mel."
"Oh, hehe, don't apologize to me. Apologize to Chet," I laugh while putting on my seatbelt, "Now, how about telling me where we're going?"
Johnny's frown inverts completely and he follows my lead, putting on his seatbelt and putting the car in drive. "Well, I figured we could go somewhere fun since it's just me and you."
The drive into Thornberry is so magical. Even though I've been here once before, it was only because we ran for our lives and miraculously found ourselves here. I didn't really get to see it all that well either since it was very late at night and all the colors were drowned into the dark. The red, green, blue, and pink trees graciously vivify the streets, and the many bushes sporting bloomed flowers that line the sidewalks make the area seem like a sanctuary. There's the occasional rock gardens that I remember seeing a lot from the last time I was here too, and many buildings are decorated with new paint jobs, gargoyles, and multicolored lights. There's even times where the roads we drive over go under and over rivers that wind through the city. It's all rich, beautiful, and peaceful enough to the point where I already feel at home.
"You like it? We could live here you know." Johnny says while leaning back into the drivers seat, driving with one hand at the wheel.
"Wh- you say that like I even could live here," I say in awe.
"Oh so you're saying you don't want to spend the rest of your life with me?" Johnny spouts.
"Wh-what?! No! I-I-I just… Uh-uhm," I stutter while blushing HARD.
Johnny turns the car into this huge parking lot with barely anybody in it while saying, "That hurts Mel, that hurts."
The parking lot has spaces that are so incredibly large that you could walk in between the cars with your arms all the way apart, and they're all available for this huge three story building that has small trees and flowers growing on the top of it. A neon sign adorns the top of the structure and says 'Afterlife Arcade.'
I'm still not over what he just said though.
"Y-…you want me to live with you? W-why?" I ask.
He pulls into a parking spot and puts the car in park. "'Cause I love you…and to be honest, knowing that there's someone at home waiting for me after work would motivate me to get through the day."
That tingly feeling I tend to get when he's being charming envelopes my senses. Everything gets all tense and I'm just left sitting there unsure of what to do or what to say. It's at a point like this where my Mom would get all handsy and squeeze my cheeks or something. At least Johnny doesn't do that.
"C-can you…t-tell me why we're…here?" I stutter while trying to not look at Johnny.
He laughs, pushing open the car door and walking around to open my door for me. He reaches out his hand and I take it, enjoying the feeling of being lifted up with enough force that resembles being on a carnival ride.
"We're here to have some fun…and to also pass the time for my 'surprise,'" Johnny answers.
"W-what does fun mean?" I ask.
I'm wrapped up in his body and pushed against his body which is softer than a couch cushion.
"What do you mean 'what does fun mean?' It's an arcade," Johnny laughs.
Here comes the embarrassment. He should know that I didn't really have a childhood that's comparable to his. Can't wait to never hear the end of this for the rest of my life.
"I've never been to one…I-is it big? Like are there a lot of different things…to do?" I continue asking.
After Johnny locks the car he looks at me with confusion and a hint of concern.
"You haven't been to one? Wouldn't arcades be one of the few things you could afford as a kid? They're not expensive… thirty dollars was the most I've ever had to spend at one," Johnny interrogates.
"Um…I didn't have thirty dollars to spend as a kid…," I reply while understanding that I'm about to do something I've never done before.
"O-oh...Hmm…well then how about you let your favorite monster treat you. I'll make sure that this will be one of your best memories," Johnny replies with a big smile.
He pulls me along with him, telling me how there were many times in his life where he spent entire afternoons here. There were even times when he brought his grandfather here for a round of bowling. Apparently this arcade is the only place where people in Thornberry can bowl regularly, and the great Jonathan Worthington the First has a thing for bowling.
"U-uh…isn't he quadrapedal?" I ask.
"Yes, but that doesn't stop him from using his arms like any other monster. Believe it or not, he can actually walk and run with only three limbs while his fourth one can do something entirely different. One of those things… includes picking up a bowling ball and blasting some pins to kingdom come," Johnny answers.
Sounds scary. His coordination must be unparalleled in the monster world. I guess it makes sense as to why Johnny has had to struggle living up to him. He lost that primal attribute of being a quadruped after all and having this innate ability to have seemingly difficult things come naturally to him.
"But enough about my grandfather, I'm here with you this time," He adds before opening the door to the place.
My ears are annihilated with sound and my eyes have to adjust to the darkness. There aren't very many cars in the parking lot here, but there's tons of voices screaming and hollering from every direction. There's clings and clanks, buzzes and beeps, and thumps and booms. It's absolutely, positively, undeniably overwhelming for my hypersensitized ears. My dumb little eyeballs are going through the motions too, because I'm seeing an onslaught of color that's violating them, making me think I'm about to have an epileptic attack. The carpet that everything rests upon is black but plastered in sparkles that resonate with the multicolored lights of the arcade games, and there are fans set to max speed fifty feet in the air. In a way, this seems more like a real version of Pandora's Box than a simple arcade.
I feel Johnny's hand move up and down my side seemingly waiting for me to enter first. "You alright, Mel?"
I observe the sight laid out before me and gulp with difficulty. "To be honest…I'm scared."
"What? You? Scared?" He laughs.
"P-please don't make fun of me. This is…too much for me… and I've never played a-any of these games before," I shake.
Johnny pushes me into the sea of stimuli with his arm still wrapped around my waist, and heads towards a giant computer that's as tall as he is. He taps on the screen and all sorts of crazy prompts show up. It asks if he's buying a new 'game card' or adding 'credits' to an existing game card, and I have no clue as to what that means. He touches the prompt that adds those 'credits' though before choosing the option of $30 to add to it.
"So since this is your first time at an arcade, you should first know how they work. What you do is get a game card," He says while taking out this card that says 'Afterlife Arcade' that's the size of a credit card and showing me it, "And you put game credits on them. Every game requires a certain amount of credits for you to use in order to play them which can pretty much be any amount, but they're normally between five to fifteen depending on the game. You following me, princess?"
I'll admit that it wasn't the easiest thing to understand with all this noise, but my brain was able to put all the pieces together.
"S-so it's basically like spending real money for a fake currency, a-and you use that fake currency to play at an arcade?" I respond nervously.
"Well look at you, aren't you a smart girl! Yes that's exactly what it is!" He beams, "What you do after that is find a game you want to play, look for the flashing or glowing card swiper, see how many credits the game costs, and swipe your card. All in all, it's basically like using a credit card for immediate but limited entertainment."
"B-but I thought you used quarters or, like, actually money to play arcade games. Do they not do that?" I ask.
Johnny takes the card and slides it into my pocket, which makes me nervous because he's basically forcing me to keep an eye on his money. I would be devastated if I lost the card at anytime today.
"They did back in the day, but the card system has been considered to be better overall. This allows for arcades to better price their games, it speeds up the process of getting game credits, and also partially negates the chances of someone losing their hard earned money by dropping it underneath or between machines. Unfortunately you won't really find an arcade that doesn't use a game card system anymore," Johnny answers, "Now what do you want to play first? What catches your eye?"
He gestures to the plethora of games in front of us which already overwhelms me once again, but it only gets worse when I look beyond them and see hundreds more machines making loads of noise.
"I-I…Um…," I whimper while pulling the card out of my pocket and holding it close.
Johnny pulls me into an embrace that nearly makes me already drop the game card, and grabs my chin so that he can pull it up to make me look at him. "Hey…there's no reason to freak out, trust me. There's nothing you have to prove to me or anyone else. All you have to do I let loose. And if there is someone who does make fun of you, then I'll snap their necks and shove them into one of the basketball games at the back of the building."
"B-basketball?" I ask, trying to ignore his sudden violent outburst right there, "You can play basketball at an arcade?"
"Of course! There's also baseball, fishing, hunting… all sorts of sports! There's even these games that have these, like, balls you can kick to play soccer, or football, or…ugh…still have no idea what I should call that godforsaken sport since it's called something different everywhere you go," Johnny blathers.
I can't help but laugh despite my nervousness since I know exactly what he means. There are people that get mad when you call it football and there are people who get mad when you call it soccer. Within a certain context, everyone should know that you're talking about the sport where you kick around a ball with black pentagons and white hexagons.
"C-can I see the basketball ones?" I ask.
Johnny agrees and guides me through the neon maze of machinery. I look at all sorts of games that sometimes seem fascinating and other times seem stupid. Some of the cool ones were things like these first person shorting games, these games where you control certain characters and fight each other, these machines where you control a guy riding a motorcycle…while actually riding a motorcycle, whack-a-mole, and this giant version of Connect Four. The ones that made me kind of upset seeing were these machines where Johnny said you put money in them to push more money out. He said they're called 'Coin Pushers,' and are actually pretty predatory to people who have neurological addictions to gambling. I get that this arcade is in Thornberry and all, but why are they putting poker chips in them?! Like, it's a scam! Aside from those, there were also these oversized versions of games that you can play for free on your phones AppStore. Like why would I spend actual money to play Cockroach Crush Saga or Plants vs. Humans or even Angry Furs when there's no legitimate reason to. Grr…it's infuriating.
But even after that roller coaster of emotions, Johnny is able to bring me to the basketball game with our hands intertwined. I give it a good look and notice that there aren't any basketballs to pick up and that there's this giant scoreboard just above the supposed backboard. I even end up finding the little card swiper thing that Johnny mentioned and notice that it takes 13 credits. Deep down I feel like that's kind of expensive in terms of the amount of credits we have. I try to open my mouth and voice my concern but Johnny interrupts me before I'm able to get even one syllable out.
"Don't worry about how much it costs, I can always get more for you Mel."
He then reaches out and grasps onto the game card.
"So when I swipe this, it's going to spit out two or three basketballs, and all you have to do is shoot. The game is obviously rigged so we're probably not going to do very well, especially because we're Scarers and not professional athletes," Johnny explains.
"It's rigged? Well then why would we play it? Don't we want to get the best score?" I interrogate.
"It's not about beating the highest score Mel, it's about having fun. If I'm being honest, seeing the basketballs fly off in the most random directions is what makes it fun," He responds before giving the card a swipe.
The game rises to life and starts playing some suspenseful music before rolling out three basketballs that look way too big for the tiny rim we're given. I start to understand what he's saying now, you have to have pinpoint accuracy to even be considered a pro at this. It also surprises me that two of them have started playing that music and is followed by Johnny starting to bombard the net with the few balls he's been given.
"Come on, give it a try!" He encourages, "I'll let ya do whatever you want with me if you beat me! I can come over whenever you want, run some errands for you, make you dinner. Your choice!"
I kind of freak out and start tossing them into the net, but either overthrow them or under throw them.
"A-and what happens if you win?" I spout.
"A big ol' kiss on the lips, tongue and all," Johnny responds.
"You know that you can just… ask for that," I scoff while surprising myself when I finally score a point.
"Yeah right, not when you're all stressed out like you are right now, you won't let me," He laughs.
Well yeah…being kissed isn't the first thing that crosses my mind when I feel like my stomach is inverting itself inside me. I don't think very many other people think about when they're stressed either! Is he trying to invalidate how I'm feeling right now?! If that's the case then I might as well just rip the Band-Aid off and just throw as many as I can in hopes of catching up to him. I've never played legitimate basketball before so he's probably twenty points ahead of me by now. I do exactly that for the remaining time and stop once the ear-piercingly loud music finally ends. I look up to the scoreboard and see that... wait I have 40 points?
"Woo! That's probably the best I've ever done. How did you do Me-" Johnny divulges happily before his smile disappears. "Damn…is basketball your favorite sport or something?"
"Erm…I…No. I've never played it before," I say while staring at Johnny's score which only hit 15.
"You must have scored quite a bit in a row. The more consecutive hoops you score, the more points you get…Hehe, I guess I owe you a favor," He elucidates.
"S-sorry. I'm sure you were looking forward to embarrassing me," I uncontrollably chuckle.
Johnny waves his hands in the air as if he didn't really care in the first place. "Like you said, I can just ask for that…Like right now."
He takes my hand and pulls me into his fluffy and colossal chest, putting my arms around my waist and closing his eyes as he kisses me. He catches me off guard when he does that and I lose my balance, basically falling into him which is probably where he wants me. His lips are soft and his breath still tastes of mint when he gently pushes his tongue past my lips. It's a passionate kiss that sends my heart into overdrive, making a throbbing sensation that pulses through my body. My mind doesn't want me to let go of him either but he eventually brings me back up to my feet and gives me a quick look up and down to make sure I'm alright. My arms and legs are shaking relentlessly but aside from that I'm fine. It's what I see when I look up at him that stupefies me. Johnny stands tall and proud with his chest puffed out slightly, and I can't even describe the mesmerizingly attractive smile he's giving me.
"Whatcha lookin' at princess?" He asks with a cocky smirk.
"N-nothing," I answer while looking away in embarrassment.
He leans his head closer to mine which makes everything worse, to the point where I'm trying to lean away from him. "Nothing? Well it sure looked like you were looking at me all tongue-tied. Don't tell me my favorite, stubborn little girl is having fun but upset that we both got what we wanted?."
I have to place my hand on his head and push it away while leaning so far away from him that my legs aren't even on the ground, blushing harder than I've ever blushed before. He's basically holding me upright as I bend around like a crescent moon.
"Ooooo, something tells me I'm right," He teases with a low growl.
"Stooooop," I whine, "Why do you always do this in public!"
"Because I don't care," He responds before kissing me at least on hundred times on my head.
I know I shouldn't be conscientious about all of this, but I can't help it. Fortunately for me, all those kisses kind of relieve me of those negative feelings and make me laugh. It's almost like some sort of defense mechanism that's set off when he starts messing with me. There's no reason to be too upset either since Johnny seems happier than he's been in a long time.
He then sets me down on the floor again and lets me go. "Ok where to next?"
I still wasn't quite sure since I've never been to a place like this before, so he takes me through the maze of machines once more. We end up coming across this one game called 'Skeeball,' which he calls a classic. You take this ball and roll it up a ramp so that they fall into these holes that give you points. I actually pretty fun even though I find out that I'm not very good at it. Johnny ended up scoring a perfect game, getting every ball into the center hole that gives the most points. After that we end up at a plethora of other games. There's one where you stack these cubes and if you stack it to the highest point you get a prize. We didn't win anything but it was still fun to play. We also end up playing 'Air Hockey' which was pretty entertaining too, and there was even a machine that simulates Beer Pong. I've heard all about that game this year and finally got to try it, but it was of course without the beer.
After doing that a couple times, Johnny eventually brings me to a section of the arcade which is all 'rhythm' based. He takes me to try one out where you act like a DJ, and you're given a turntable and a couple of buttons to press with the beat of the music. I gave up after one go, but Johnny showed me up by hitting every note with ease. There was even a point where he wasn't looking at the screen and hitting every note. After managing to pull him away from that, he only found another rhythm game that he got indescribably excited to see. This one was different in that it's played by touching a circular interface around the screen.
"What's with you and these kind of games?" I ask.
"What? Huh?" Johnny says after scrolling through the song selection, "Oh, I just like music. These kind of games also help sharpen concentration and coordination, which... you know... is a good thing to have for Scaring."
How is everything in this world related to Scaring? Does that profession really have that much of a cultural chokehold on our lives? Regardless, I'm confused and try to get more details out of Johnny while he begins to flawlessly play along to a banging soundtrack. "How exactly? There's no way that touching this screen can relate to the complexity that Scaring brings."
"…"
"John," I say raising my voice.
"Huh? Oh, when entering a human child's room there's usually all sorts of 'toxic' toys on the floor. With good coordination, a Scarer can move around them with ease without focusing on them. A Scarer can also learn how to focus and multitask by playing these games. Focusing on the child, and the many things in your surroundings is a crucial part of coming back out of the human world unscathed," Johnny answers.
…Yeah, that actually makes sense. The only other reason that could explain Johnny's crazy good reflexes and focus would be that he's simply just good at it which seems like too vague of a reason.
I watch as he finishes the game without missing a single note once again, and standing proud as he's shown his perfect score.
"This is your favorite game isn't it?" I ask.
"Uh…I would be lying if I said no," Johnny admits while laughing, "But let's go do something else. I'm here for you, not for me."
I'm taken to many other games around the place, having more fun than I ever could have imagined in a setting like this. Although, after each game I play, I become more exhausted. Johnny and I finally find ourselves at those crane games that are internationally known to be both famous and infamous.
"I'm guessing you haven't played one of these either?" Johnny asks.
"No," I chuckle, "The closest I got to playing one was by messing with the little stick as a kid. Then I was told to leave it alone."
"Mmm…they didn't want little Melanie getting emotionally attached to a plushie. Know it all too well. My mother would always have to pull me away kicking and screaming," Johnny replies.
Kicking and screaming? He doesn't seem like the guy who was that bad of a child though, especially since he grew up in a family that expected him to be princely. Oh wait… that actually might be a valid reason behind that. He could have become a little too spoiled and broke down when things didn't go the way he wanted.
"Let me guess… Rich boy issues?" I assume.
"Yep, it was when I was like four or five years old though. I never did anything like that again after my father found out. That's probably where my childhood trauma began too…just straight up terrified of him ever since," He answers.
It's kind of insensitive to want to learn more about that after all the suffering he's gone through recently in regards to his Dad, so I don't dare ask further. It does pain me to hear that though, because I'm going to have to officially meet him at some point…I think.
"I'm sorry," I console.
"Meh, it's alright. Wouldn't have become the amazing monster you know and love now if it wasn't for that," He boasts.
"Hehe, true. Hearing that only makes me more scared of him though," I add.
"Really? If that's the case then you can just scare him back. He'll change tones quick when he sees you turn blue. Ooo! Speaking of blue, how about you try to win that blue teddy bear?" Johnny says.
The blue teddy bear is pretty cute. It looks super squishy and soft, and it has an adorable little smile on it. It looks big too, so if I do win it then it wou- wait he wants me to win it?
"Alright Mel," He says pulling me in front of him and facing the crane game, "Just move the arm with the stick and press the button on top when you think it's in the right position."
He leans down and swipes the game card which starts a timer of thirty seconds. My blood rushes and I push the stick forward which sends it swinging super fast. I feel Johnny's body press against my back as he puts his hands on top of mine.
"Keep it steady… use brief movements," He directs calmly.
I follow them and position the claw right above the teddy bear. I press the bouton on top of the stick and watch as the claw descends into the pillow of plush. The claw seizes the teddy bear along with several others plushies before releasing them all except my target. The teddy bear hangs onto the claw for a few seconds and when the claw stops moving upwards, it wiggles out a little bit. The claw then shuffles back towards the prize outlet but sends the bear plunging back into the pile of softness.
"Aww, so close," Johnny spouts.
I try it again at least five more times before I feel dejected. It's really cute and I can't help but want it really badly, but I realize that I'm becoming slightly addicted to this and feel like it's for the best to give up. I see why my parents didn't want me playing these things now. There isn't a really high chance of winning anything from these, and it's really easy to end up losing all your money.
I let go of the stick before saying, "Let's just go do something else."
"What? Come on, one more time. I really want to see you win something," Johnny counters.
"No…I've spent too much on it to the point where it's not worth it anymore," I sigh.
"No no no. We're getting you something," He argues.
With one more swipe of the card, the crane game starts counting down and Johnny moves the claw towards the blue teddy bear.
"Sometimes you have to take physics into account, and I think its' head is heavier than its' body…so we'll aim for the head and win it," Johnny mumbles as he hits the button.
The claw descends again and grabs ahold of several things at once. A huge pile gets pulled upwards but the blue teddy bear is trapped within the claw and the metal digging into its neck. The bear miraculously doesn't move at all when it shifts on over to the prize outlet and makes me super happy when it drops down with another plushie that's round, rotund, and black as the night sky. It also makes these plushie seem more sentimental since Johnny won them for me.
He leans down and digs the two plushies out, proudly inspecting them before giving the black one a better look. "This one's pretty cool. What do you think?"
He gives it over to me and I turn the plushie around to see it in its entirety. The black plushie is a huge ball the size of a basketball with tiny arms and legs that jut out on its' sides. It has a little crown on its head and some goofy little horns. Then there's his face that looks like…a skull…like my Grandpa. Everything suddenly feels heavy and something in my throat makes it hard to breath and swallow. The environment surrounding me also seems to quiet down a bit and it wasn't because of my ears involuntarily lowering. Then, out of nowhere, my eyes start to sting.
"W-what's wrong Mel? Do you not like it? I can take it if that's the case," Johnny divulges while reaching for my Grandp- I mean…The plushie.
"N-no!" I shout, "…I-I'm okay…I…it just…looks like my Grandpa."
I run my fingers over its face and feel the soft, smushy fabric turn rough. It reminds me of the roughness of his face, but without the heat that was generated from the fiery flames that raged in his eyes. The painful memory of seeing those flames dim into almost nothing in the hospital also circle my mind, but even then, I can't help but love this little guy. It's nothing more than a cartoon version of my Grandpa, which is something that he would probably want me to see when I would feel as sad as I am now.
"I-I'm sorry Mel, I didn't mean to make you cry," Johnny worries.
"No…," I whine, "It's not your fault. I just never got the chance to really understand that he's not around anymore because of work and…everything."
Johnny looks around almost desperately before finding what he was looking for. "Er…Here, why don't we go over to the food court for a while. You can take a break that way."
My hand is taken off the plushie and pulled downwards towards my side, interlocking with Johnny's. Another journey through the maze is made as we take a trek towards the food court where red and white stripped chairs with indoor umbrellas call to us. A bar run by a snooty looking monsters stand by their registers, looking at their phones with their heads being held up by their arms. The counter beneath them hold pretty much every candy ever made. There's Scarbursts, Everlasting Slobstoppers, Mummy Bears, Sour Scratch Kids, Scareheads, Prickly Stix…and hundreds more along with funny little prizes that only a two year old could have fun with. Behind all of that is tons of slushie machines and pastries that would have made me go wild as a kid.
Johnny decided on a booth that ended up giving us a good view of the bowling lanes on the other side of the building and slides me into the seat. The moment I'm able to get comfortable, I feel a wave of ecstasy run through my body. My feet and legs were killing me and I didn't even notice.
"I'll get you a soda and we can talk," Johnny says smiling to me before leaving me all alone.
It's not that I mind though. All I can really pay attention to now is this plushie and how much it reminds me of my Grandpa. I also don't really want to mention that my eyelids are starting to feel heavy too because I'm supposed to be spending time with Johnny. I've already soiled the mood and if I fall asleep, I'll ruin it some more. However, the more I try to stay awake, the harder it is to keep my head up. My head somehow ends up laying on top of the plushie, with its hands resting atop my snout, leaving everything that's happened to be nothing but a blur.