"Thank you guys!" Waving toward Kist, a man and his wife left the shop.

Nodding in response, he remained focused on cleaning the last of the tables.

"I'm impressed!" Dropping a heavy hand on his grandson's shoulder, Dorian smiled brightly.

Glancing at the man with a confused look, Kist playfully sneered at him before turning back to his table, "Oh?"

"Yeah! you're moving with that old pep in your step." Moving in a dramatic display, bringing an annoyed smile to Kist's face, Dorian laughed.

"Alright, alright, save some of the energy from them old ladies gocking at you." Gesturing with his head, Kist spoke.

"What?" Straightening up with excitement, Dorian turned toward the direction he'd been motioned, only to see he'd been tricked.

Furrowing his brows as his grandson's laughter echoed through the building, Dorian turned his attention back to Kist.

"You little shit!" Grabbing ahold of Kist as they both laughed, Dorian called out in playful annoyance.

"Anyway," Releasing his foolish child, Dorian spoke as he crossed his massive arms, "When you’re done cleaning that table, go ahead and hang out with your little friend."

Pausing, Kist hesitantly craned his neck toward his grandfather, "I'm sorry?

"You heard me boy…Skyler snitched on you and told me about your friend who stopped by, and since you've already gotten most the clean up done I don't see why I should keep you." Dorian replied.

Grinning, Kist quickly nodded before rushing to finish cleaning the table.

"Just make sure you actually clean it." Laughing as he strode away, Dorian waved off Kist.

Motioning to retort to the old man, Kist paused as he remembered where his priorities lay.

Returning to the table, he finished polishing the wooden surface and raised his hands with the wet cloth rolled into a ball before shooting into the red sanitary bucket.

Displacing the water as it landed into the container, the rag splashed soapy water onto the floor.

Showing his teeth as he hissed through them at his mistake, Kist quickly untied his apron, only to do the exact same thing with it, and then he rushed through the door laughing.

Bursting through the door, Kist looked up at the malevolent star above, seeing that it had shifted a few inches further past its apex before leaping into the crowded streets.

"Alright, here we go!" Pulling out his phone as he pushed and slipped past the popular, Kist opened his messenger.

Finding Nue's number, he quickly texted, "Aracde in 10."

Not waiting for a response, Kist continued rushing through the crowd, navigating the roads and crossways without missing a beat.

Nearly rushing into the brightly colored arcade building, Kist patted his pockets to find the phone he'd just had, only to find it in the wrong pocket.

Sighing in relief as he approached the front desk, Kist saw Taylor running the check-in and leaned on the glass counter before speaking, "Hey, Taylor."

"Oh hey, Kist, I was wondering when you'd how up." Returning his greeting without even looking at him, Taylor opened a box of plastic prizes set to be displayed along with the other usual prizes before glancing at him, flashing a bright smile.

"You're looking a lot better," Laughing through her smile at her remark, Taylor continued, "How can I help you?"

"Ha, ha, very funny, anyway, I just want the usual few dollars on my game card."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Shrugging her shoulders as she made her way over to the register, Taylor whispered to him, "Laying off the drugs?"

"I'm not on," Shaking his head, this time placing both his hands on his face out of frustration before paying for the recharge, Kist dismissed the woman's concerns, "You gonna be running with this joke for a while aren't you?"

Taylor confirmed Kist's fear by nodding with a proud look plastered over her face.

Ignoring Taylor's comments, Kist made his way toward Ghost Escape, only to pause at the sight of Nue attempting to beat the high score.

Waving off the feeling of deja vu that'd just washed over him, Kist stood beside the retro game machine, watching with bated breath as he saw Nue closing in on the top score.

"No fucking wa-"

"Shush!" Quickly silencing Kist, Nue flexed the muscle in his jaw as he remained intensely focused on the game.

Holding up his hands, Kist stepped back from Nue and watched from afar.

Grinning from ear to ear as Nue grew in frustration, ultimately culminating in his loss, a single point before earning the top spot.

"Oh my fuckin!" Crouching down in a fit of rage as he could contain, Nue screamed at the machine.

Laughing at Nue, Kist strolled over pridefully, only to feel his face contort in disgust as he saw he was again no longer on the scoreboard.

"Nue!" Shouting down at the man, Kist stared daggers at him.

Looking up at Kist, Nue squinted his eyes as if a fluorescent light were positioned directly above him.

"Yeah?" Standing as he spoke, Nue questioned Kist.

"Did you really wipe my name off the entire board trying to beat that score?"

"Huh? Oh, no." Grinning maliciously as he spoke, Nue continued, "I did that on purpose."

Furrowing his brow, Kist stared blankly at the man before speaking, "Whatever, move over."

Pushing past Nue, Kist swiped his game card, starting a new game.

"Good luck, loser, you can't even beat my lowest score."

"Don't make me drag your ass through this acade!" Shooting back, Kist shut out Nue as he tried to focus on his game.

"When you lose, switch."

Finishing the first round of the game, Kist glared at Nue, who tilted his head in response.

"Okay." Responding in kind, Kist started the next round before returning to his game.

Crossing his arms as he grinned, Nue spoke, "Alright, now lets go over the plans."

Raising his eyebrows in response, Kist questioned Nue, "You sure you wanna talk about that here? It's not exactly private."

"You know that saying, that you only notice what you're looking for?"

"Yeah?"

"Hearing works the same way, so unless someone is interested in what two random men are talking about we'll be fine."

Shrugging his shoulders while flaring his hands as he beat the second round without issue, Kist agreed without words.

"Now, let's get the basics out of the way." Said Nue.

"I'm all ears." Kist responded.

"Good, then I'll only need to say this once," Reaching toward the sky in a stretch, Nue waited until he'd finished before continuing, "The stairwell to the top is steep if you go a step at a time."

Finishing the first stage of Ghost Escape, Kist turned to Nue with a slight grin as he started the next round, "Capture their attention… win the game."

"And the way we do that?" Posing a question as he motioned Kist toward the game, Nue answered himself through a laugh as Kist panicked, his first life being lost to a dumb mistake.

"Cheat-"

"Cheating, I know!" Cutting Nue off in frustration, Kist hurried the man along with his hand before returning the lion's share of his focus on his game.

"Fine…no reason to savour the moment," Sighing, Nue continued. "Like I said before we've a star that's over stayed its welcome, and you, someone with first hand experience battling it and its reflections."

"Reflection. Different stages, but only one, don't say reflections." Kist corrected.

Audibly face palming, Nue's frustration drew a laugh from Kist, who soon after threw his hands up in excitement as he bet the second stage without issue.

Turning to give a sparing glance at Nue, Kist paused a second longer than anticipated when he saw the malice written across his face.

"Look, if you want problems, by all means we can-"

Cutting Nue off once again, unwilling to risk his game, Kist quickly signaled his defeat.

"Now, bitch, like I told you before," Pausing in the middle of his game, Kist watched as his second life was lost as Nue continued, "Specifics aside, the plan is simple. Highlight the strengths of the star as we know it, and create a weakness through damage done in its Reflections and-"

"I told you its 'Reflection'," Cracking his knuckles as his last life was lost and his game ended, Kist stepped forward, "And If I remember correctly, the second half of the plan involves hand to hand training."

Stepping back to distance himself from Kist, Nue lowered his head but kept his gaze fixed, "Yeah."

"So there's no issue in me dragging your ass across the acade after all?"

"probably not the best place to start training, huh?"

"I promise you...Taylor won't mind!" Taking a sudden step forward as he spoke, prompting Nue to take twice as many back, Kist flashed a threatening grin.