author's note: To that one recent comment, I got you fam.
"Yo Toby you gotta take this seriously! She might not look like it but she's really flipping out."
Though pre-planned maybe Lucas shouldn't have went with Toby to the movies. Toby really needs to focus on his presentation for Kagami's sake. At least he's trying to get through to the boy but his efforts are proving futile.
"Hey dude check out that arcade out there!" Before Toby could even move Lucas grabs hold of his collar. Talking to him doesn't seem to work. Time to get physical. Toby's back pocket vibrates, startling the two boys. Lucas lets go so Toby could grab his phone. He had unlocked it when the credits rolled.
The blonde's eyes shoot wide open in shock.
"The fuck?"
Lucas moves closer to see what startled the blonde. Right there on the screen were 17 missed phone calls from an unknown number, 7 from Nick and 20 unread messages. Lucas didn't have to second guess the identity of the unknown caller. "I wasn't kidding when I said she was flipping out over this."
Toby groans out loud. Being the so-called lazy shithead he is he obvious doesn't want to be paired up with Kagami. Toby opens up the messenger app. No surprise all 20 unread messages were from Kagami.
Hey Toby. In case you don't know me I'm Kagami Sugawara. Student council president. You know , the girl that transferred 2 years ago? We're in the same biology class. Just to let you know Ms Mc Guck paired us up for a class assignment. If you're available can we meet after school? I have a student council meeting so it'll only be 5 minutes.
That was the first message. Toby skims through the rest of the texts. They became more and more depressing with Kagami explaining her idea for assignment to Toby in huge paragraphs. Did she think he'd actually thoroughly read through all of this, let alone understand what she's talking about? He hadn't been paying attention nor attending class for a while. Most of these terms went over his head. He finally scrolls to the final text and the boy scowls.
Look, I get it. You don't want to pair up with me nor do you want to work on this assignment. Fine. You don't have to do anything. Just don't get in my way okay? :)
Toby turns to Lucas who side-eyes him.
"Hey! She said I didn't have to do anything!" Toby retaliates. Damn, first Jess now Lucas? All his friends are now turning on him.
"Nuh Uh bro, I ain't letting you get away with this while she slaves herself away to get an A."
Toby gives Lucas a look. Why is he treating him like a child? Of course Ms. Mc Guck had to pair him up with the "queen" of the school. She obviously did that on purpose to get back at him. Toby's phone vibrates again. Exasperated, the boy peeks at his phone.
"Kagami again?" Lucas asks.
"Nope." This time it was a text from Nick. Thankfully it wasn't a big fat wall of text but the message did ring clear to the boys.
You're dead.
Toby slumps to the ground and groans. Jess, Lucas, Nick. All of them were going for his head. Lucas rubs his back as if he had a change of heart. Like Toby would believe that. He wouldn't stop berating him when they met after school. Too late for that bro.
"Look, I gotta go meet Gina for our assignment. You better pull your weight! I wouldn't want to piss her off if I was you." With that Lucas left the prankster boy.
Toby strolls around the mall for a bit, debating whether to go home or not. If he did go back he'd have to face the wrath of Nick, something he didn't think he'd have to experience. Or worse, his parents. Nick totally told them he skipped biology. That snitch. Thinking of hitting the arcade for a while, well until the trains stop for the day (in spite of not wanting to face his parents at least that's better than being homeless.) the boy spots a familiar looking person. "Is that Jessica?" the blonde thinks out loud to himself. He threads cautiously towards the girl outside the clothing store to confirm his suspicion. The girl was slouching on the window with a dozen bags surrounding her. Yep that's definitely Jess. He spots a guy walking towards the girl. Mark motherfucking Tuan. Toby ducks to a nearby tree.
They both seem to be laughing at something. Toby couldn't make out what, with the noise from passerbyers and the distance. She kisses Mark on the cheek before setting out somewhere. Toby follows suit. He isn't stalking her or anything, just needs something to lighten up his mood and Jessica is the perfect target.
Mark and Jessica head into Starbucks for a coffee break. They've been shopping for over 2 hours already and though Mark didn't want to admit it his arms were getting tired. While a bit overcrowded they were lucky enough to snag a seat for each other. Mark orders an iced shaken green tea lemonade. Jessica being the glutton of the two orders two carrot cakes and a pumpkin spice latte. The couple chat for a bit though Jessica does bring up the Toby-Kagami situation.
"Damn with Toby? Really?" Mark exclaims. Jessica nods in reply. Mark leans back in his seat. "Wouldn't want to be in Kagami's shoes then. The pressure must be high to get an A."
Jessica traces the outline of her latte. Thinking back on what happened in class this morning the girl feels bad for Kagami. She feels even more shittier for refusing to pair up with Toby in her stead. Jessica isn't too stressed about grades but Kagami? She wouldn't know how the teen would react to not getting an A. Or worse, a D. She'd hide her disappointment for sure but on the inside? Kagami's too nice to be subjected to Toby. She should've done more to help her. Jessica snaps out of her thoughts with Mark's hand on hers.
"Hey, are you okay?" he inquires in worry.
"Hmhm..." Jessica replies with another nod, clearly not too convincing to Mark. The brunette rubs her palm attempting to cheer the girl up. "It isn't your fault you know? The fact that you care is more than enough for anyone Jess."
Jessica tries to give Mark a genuine smile, still upset but appreciates Mark trying to lift the mood. The couple breaks contact as Mark emerges from his seat.
"I need to take a piss but I don't want to leave you here feeling like utter shit I'm giving you this to hold on to." Mark stuffs his hand into his back pocket and pulls out a guitar pick with a rainbow feather attached to it. He gives it to Jessica but not before giving her a quick peck on the lips.
"This is my lucky charm. I look at it when I feel bad. You can hold onto it when I get back." He shoots a wink before leaving, disappearing into the crowd. Jessica stares at the pick, fiddling with the feather as a blush is apparent on her cheeks. "Gosh, what a loser." she thinks out loud to herself. But he's her loser. Jessica continues to eye the pick until someone sits in the seat in front of her.
"You're ba..." Jessica's face contorts into utter disgust at the person before her. Toby. Lord, if you could hear this poor girl what did she do to deserve this?
"Oh gurl, was that smooth AF or what?" Toby says with his best valley girl impression. Jessica doesn't reply. Toby raises an eyebrow. He wasn't expecting a non-reaction.
Wrong.
The girl leaps off her seat, latte in hand ready to dose this fucker. Fortunately (or unfortunately in her case) Toby has faster reflexes and stops Jessica.
"Woah Woah Woah! We don't want to cause a scene now do we?" It takes a second but Jessica calms down and returns to her seat arms crossed. Toby quickly retracts. "I'm the Lord of the Water so that would've been futile anyways." Jessica aims for the latte again. Toby raises his hands in defence. "Sorry!Sorry!"
Having calmed down for a second time Jessica lays her hand on her temple. "What do you want?" she asks slowly, trying to keep her temper in check.
"What? So I can't hang out with my friend once in a while?" Toby says while playing with Mark's drink. It's not that Jessica doesn't see Toby as a friend but damn if he keeps this up the line between friend and annoying pest is really thinning out. She just wants to go home this point.
"You're in my seat."
Praise the orbs Mark is here! Finally she can leave. "Mark forget it we're going." For the final time Jessica stands from her seat, gathering her belongings ready to leave. Mark places a hand on her shoulder signalling her to stop. She looks up at him and freezes. That comfortable, approachable energy from Mark is long gone now. He had a stern look on his face, body completely rigid. This isn't going to end well.
"No Jessica. He's been bothering you for months. This has gotta end right now."
In response, Toby gets up from his (well Mark's) seat. His expression says it all. He's enjoying this situation, testing Mark to see how far he'll go. Now Mark isn't a fighter but he is taller than Toby and he could probably land a good hit on him. Even with Toby's judo skills, he wouldn't leave without a bruise if the situation continues to escalate.
Jessica should've stayed home.
"Toby, I have nothing against you but Jessica doesn't want you annoying her anymore. Can't you just leave her alone?"
Toby mockingly closes his eyes and crosses his arms in thought. "Maybe. But I need something in return."
Jessica eyes practically roll to the back of her head. She could feel her headache returning too. "Mark, lets just go!"
Mark completely ignores Jessica, replying to the jokester instead. "So you want a challenge huh?"
Said jokester, seemingly getting what he wanted replies. "Yep! If you win I'll leave Jessica alone. But if I win? Hmmm..."
Jessica wishes to crawl up into a ball and die. Mark isn't stupid. He should clearly see that Toby is just baiting him for his own twisted entertainment. That's pretty obvious whether you spend your whole childhood with Toby or just a day. It's best to leave situations like this. Toby snaps his fingers, having come up with a fitting punishment for Mark if he loses. "If I win, you'll have to do my homework for a week!" Mark please say no.
"Deal."
If Mark wasn't her boyfriend, that latte would've went right into his face. Both men treating her like some object? Nuh uh fam, Jessica doesn't do that shit. Boyfriend or not, Jessica is so gonna call Mark out on this right here, right now.
"Mark! What the fuck?" the girl exclaims. She looks straight at Mark, making her point clear as glass. She is pissed. Given Mark's perplexed expression, she's gotten her message across. Good.
"W-w-wait w-what? Jess, why are you angry?" Mark asks hurt apparent in his voice. Did Jessica care? Nope. None of that cutesy couple stuff is going to work on her.
"No! Fuck this! Abso-fucking-lutely not. I don't need two idiots fighting for me! It's ridiculous! Let's just go home!" Jessica is too busy flipping out over Mark's sexism she doesn't notice Toby taking all this in. The boy is clearly enjoying this. Audibly laughing at the discourse between the couple. Oh but Mark definitely notices. And more than ever the Korean-American wants to sock the daylights out of him.
"But Jess! If I..." oh wrong word buddy.
"I?" Jessica repeats.
Mark sighs. "If we don't do something about this he'll never leave you alone."
Jessica raises an eyebrow at Mark out right refusing to talk to him at this point. Mark sighs again. If only Toby would shut up, he'd be able to handle this conflict more easily. "Look Jess I'm sorry but please let me do this for once. Just for myself okay?"
Jessica rubs her temples in order to think before replying. "Fuck it. Fine. But I'm not happy about this at all!" Jessica huffs, finally relenting to this stupid challenge. At least afterwards she could go home. Hopefully.
The group of three wander around the mall searching for the so-called challenge to Jessica's freedom. The supposed lovely evening she spent with her boyfriend turned into her fumbling and struggling to carry all these shopping bags (should've listened to Gina to hold back) while the two stooges chat energetically to each other. Suddenly she's the one butting in on their budding relationship . The girl never expected this to happen but anything goes when Toby's around. God, she feels like such a third wheel. The blonde would've left the two by now (they don't even acknowledge her existence anymore!) but most of her anger has dispatched and it'd be cruel to leave Mark alone, even with his new "buddy" Toby.
"There! Lets hit the arcade!" Toby says amicably pointing at said arcade like an 8 year old child. Mark nods in agreement as they race towards the entrance leaving Jessica behind with her bags. Scratch that, she's more of a mother than a third wheel. She knows she was probably a bit to harsh to Mark (but he deserved it anyways) but at least as her boyfriend he could've helped her with the bags. The blonde takes a breather before tagging along with the boys.
Once the boys enter the arcade their faces light up with newfound energy, ready to one up each other. Were they really doing this for Jessica? Seems more like a long lasting feud between them.
"There!" Mark points at a video game cabinet at the corner of the arcade.
Toby scoffs. "Dance Dance Revolution? You serious?"
"What? You scared you'll embarrass yourself with a silly arcade game?"
Everyone knows Mark can dance. The video of him pwning Nick in a dance off at the school dance 2 years ago practically blew up on social media. Nick couldn't show his face to the public for days. But Dance Dance Revolution isn't about how well you can dance, Toby knows that. It's mostly about following the rhythm, hitting those combos and having high stamina. The prankster blonde doesn't play rhythm games but with his fast reflexes and being fairly athletic he'll give Mark a tough time.
"You're on."
Both boys step up onto the dance platform. Mark places his lemonade down on the platform before doing the honours and takes out a few coins from his wallet and places them into the slot. A prompt from the screen displays the option for one player or two players. Mark chooses the two player option. "Should we start with beginner? I mean you are a beginner?"
Toby felt his pride was on the line. It shouldn't be that hard right?
"Ha! You think I can't keep up with you?" Toby probes, eyeing the boy contemplating if he'll take him up on the challenge.
Mark puts his hands up in defeat, trying to add distance between the two. "Okay I'll do difficult. I ain't too groovy on expert myself."
Mark selects the difficulty and proceeds to scroll through the music playlist. Toby removes his jacket and stretches. He may seem playful from time to time but now? He's serious about beating Mark. Said boy looks behind him to Jessica, seeking some emotional support from the girl. His confident attitude takes a hit when he notices the girl on her phone, totally uninterested. That put a smile on Toby's face.
The count down starts and the boys get in position. Regaining his fallen confidence, Mark cracks his knuckles.
5,
"No hard feelings if you lose?" Toby asks.
4 ,
3,
"I should be asking you the same thing." Mark states with a smirk.
2,
1.
Music Start!
Both boys' feet start flying. Holding on to the handle bars for dear life , their eyes are completely glued to the screen. Mark choose a partially hard song too. Slimy bastard. For a beginner Toby's doing fairly well. His reflexes weren't a joke. Mark's breathing fastens but Toby's doing okay. Still able to follow the rhythm without exerting himself too much. Without their acknowledgement, a small crowd starts to form as both pass the 50 combo mark. Heck, Jessica couldn't help but pay a bit more attention to their game.
"Hey Anchor check this out!" one girl who appears to be in her twenties shouts out from across the room.
"Flamma! You don't have to drag me!" the man named Anchor calls back.
The couple were able to get to front of the dance off given the crowd. They stand next to Jessica, Anchor looks ahead intrigued with the battle but Flamma? The girl squeals in delight, raising her hands to her cheeks, legitimately jumping as the boys dance into exhaustion.
"SO COOOOL!" Flamma sings igniting the cheers from the crowd. Some were rooting for "the asian-looking kid" while others were rooting for "the blonde". Jessica rolls her eyes. Still pissed she has to admit Toby is doing good for a beginner. It isn't in her nature but she's impressed. Despite that she still believes Mark's going to win. He's super into DDR and they've been to the arcade a few times to play. Sorry Toby.
"They're both hit the 100 combo!" one guy states.
With the adrenaline rush gone the fatigue hits Toby like a ton of bricks. The teen sweats profusely. He has no time to wipe the sweat from his brows. One wrong move and he's done but his legs are aching badly. 'Perfect' 'Perfect' 'Perfect' 'Good'. Damn! He almost missed the last note. Even his concentration is waning with the fatigue. The teen just wants to rest. How long is this bloody song? He takes a short glance a Mark. He's smiling.
'Prove them wrong. Prove them wrong.' Toby chants in his head. That'll give him the motive to last just a little longer.
"OOoOOoooh the blonde one isn't doing too good." Flamma states having calmed down from her high.
"Yeah, I can see that." Jessica says solemnly. It's weird but for some reason Jessica low key wants Toby to beat Mark.
"Though both have kept their combos going the blonde one's score is significantly lower than the brunette's." Anchor chimes in. Jessica leans in trying to get a good look at the screen for the scores. As Anchor said, Mark's score is way above Toby. Though both have retained their combos, Mark's 'Perfect' points are way above Toby's who's mostly been getting by with 'Good' points.
A wave of fatigue hits the blonde again but he strives through. His legs are literally on fire. Any moment now and he'll loses movement of his feet. He hears the crowd. He knows Mark is beating him. He doesn't need to look at the boy's screen to know. Damn that bastard!
'Prove them wrong. Prove them wrong. Prove them wro-'
Miss
The crowd goes wild.
"HIS COMBO! HE F'ED HIS COMBO!" "The Asian's still going!" "There's no way the blonde's gonna win now." The crowd grows and gets louder and louder with every second.
"Dayuumn your boyfriend's losing." Flamma comments as she peers towards Jessica.
"Toby..." Jessica pleads quietly to herself not registering what Flamma said.
Miss, Miss, Good, Perfect, Bad, Perfect, Miss.
"DAMMIT!" Toby curses out loud. He's been doing fine until now. Since he's screwed his combo he's been missing a lot of notes. It's the point of no return for him. Mark's got the win. Having acknowledged this Mark faces away from screen, free styling the rest of the song. You thought the crowd was crazy then? It's a full on rave now. Even the staff were wilding out to Mark's sick moves.
"HOLY SHIT! HOLY SHIT!" someone from the crowd sinks to ground, mind shattered as Mark does the impossible.
"How is he maintaining his combo without looking at the screen?" Flamma asks mesmerised by Mark's dancing.
"It's obvious. He's played this song before hasn't he?" Anchor proposes glancing at Jessica for an answer.
"Yeah..." Jessica mutters. Mark's an avid fan of DDR. He's played this song a million times. Toby lost the minute he agreed to play. Yeah, Toby's been an annoying mosquito bite but damn, Jessica couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Mark does a backflip and lands on the arrows right on time. Perfect! The crowd loses it's mind once again. Toby's still going but no matter what he does he's going to lose. Miss, Perfect, Bad, Bad, Bad.
"Fuck!" he curses under his breathe. He should've known he couldn't beat Mark. Now that bastard is gonna hold this over his head till he's on his death bed. He eyes the floor, prepared for defeat until he spots the lemonade.
Lemonade. Water.
If Toby's gonna lose might as well make Mark the laughing stoke of the evening. Forgetting the screen, the stupid challenge, Mark and his stupid moves, the crowd , everything. Just focusing on the lemonade. Just a little nudge is all he needs. As if becoming one with the lemonade, he could feel it. He swerves to the top of the cup, just a little closer and it'll all be over, the crowd , the noise, all of it. Wait. What's this? A massive surge of energy slams into the boy's head. Way too much information! It's as if his whole body contains the entire world's water. It's too much! His body is about to burst open. Heck, he's brain about to explode! The information, the sensation, it's too much.
Toby slouches down, hands to his head, writhing in pain.
"TOBY!"
"J-jess..." Toby groans barely audible given the pain coursing through his body. Jessica runs to the platform.
"Oh god! Toby! Please be okay!"
Mark and a few staff members rush to the boy's aid .The rest of the staff try clearing out the crowd, giving the group the space needed to figure out what to do.
"We need to call an ambulance asap." another staff member, a woman, says.
"Toby...Toby.." Jessica iterates over again.
Mark combs his hair in frustration. What the hell is he suppose to do? Toby's having a seizure and Jessica's spazzing out. Should he comfort her? The boy's too hesitant to even try. Jessica's been pretty on the fence about all of this and last thing the couple needs is for her to burst a blood vessel. A staff member calls 911 as the crowd thins. The lemonade cup tips over soaking Mark's kaki pants but the boy doesn't care. What matters most is that Toby gets the medical attention he needs.
Damn, he really should've listened to Jessica and went home.
Admist the chaos Mark couldn't help but feel something's off. Maybe it's the magnitude of the situation getting to him but he swears that the ground's trembling.
"Do you feel that?" Mark says to a near by staff member.
He pauses before replying. "Wait...Don't tell me. An earthquake?"
BAM!
The vending machine near the cabinet explodes. Glass shards fly everywhere with a few plastic bottles following suite as a huge pool of liquid flows out of the damaged machine. The whole arcade is driven to madness. Some rush to the door while others rip out their phones to record. Is this really the time?
"AAAAAAAAAAAAH"
Mark follows the direction of the loud pitched scream only to discover a water bottle spinning out of control flooding the floor and anyone foolish enough to get close before stopping. He really needed to get out of here but he couldn't leave Jessica or Toby behind. As if matters couldn't get any worse the sprinklers go off. Queue more screams from the populace. Somehow Mark found himself in some weird horror movie and right now he'd like to leave before he goes insane.
Jessica!
Mark dashes back to the platform, making his way back to Jessica and the hoard of staff members. Jessica violently shakes the blonde boy as the staff members try to pry her away.
"Toby get a hold of yourself! You gotta snap out of it!" Jessica shouts as the staff successfully pull her away from Toby.
"J-jessica?" Toby mumbles having stopped his spazzing session. He isn't completely 100% though. He's on all fours and is breathing heavily from exhaustion that doesn't seem to be from their dance battle. With the staff in shock it, Jessica speeds to Toby's side once again.
"Toby! What the hell? You had me worried!" Jessica exclaims. Though pissed there is a tinge of happiness in her voice. Toby breaks out a strained smile , surprising the staff even more.
"Haha...It's my greatest masterpiece." the boy forces out before collapsing into Jessica's arms.
The sprinklers stop too.
"He's unconscious!" another staff member shouts out. Mark stands there utterly dumbfounded. Attempting to piece together what exactly went on the brunette feels his head is about to explode.
A random stranger runs past Mark towards his group of friends. " Guys...you won't fucking believe this! The mall is like totally flooded."
Yep, that confirms it. Mark somehow stumbled into a horror movie.
Author's note: well that went from 1 to 100 real quickly.
Yeah there's a lot of swearing going on in this chapter but who hasn't swore when they were 16-17? It kinda feels weird cause these characters don't swear in the cartoon so having them swear now, it feels like I'm tainting them lol.
This chapter is kinda makes me anxious for the response cause there's a lot of D-D-D-D-D-DURAMA plus Toby and Jessica are kinda being total dicks in the first half so yeah. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I have a plan , I'm not BSing this story (well mostly). Stuff will be addressed about these characters. I know what I'm doing (mostly). And i did say i'm gonna keep chapters around 2k words but yeah I'm sorry it just happened and I didn't feel like cutting it down. This isn't even the end of the original chapter 2 either lol.
So ya'll know the drill. Sorry for ze grammar mistakes.
To that one guest I hope you liked this chapter.
I don't know jack about DDR.
See ya.
Update 30/10/2018: ze grammar and some word replacements here and there.