Tessa woke up to the rambling befitting of a madman.
“And I let her have the bed. How pathetic, you don’t just give away the bed. The bed should be earned dammit.”
She starts to vaguely remember the night before, returning home with her new partner, believing him at his word when he told her that she was in grave danger.
“If Mom finds out she spent the night, she’ll kill me. If Dad finds out, I’d probably get a pat on the back, but then he’ll tell mom and she’ll kill me.”
“If your mom seeks to kill you, it’s only right that we strike first.”
Gibby turns around to see Tessa, already prepared for a fight.
“So... we’re awake, both fully clothed, talking about murdering my mom. This is the strangest morning after scene I’ve seen.”
With one hand on his hip, Gibby points his finger right at Tessa, a few inches away from her face.
“Listen here. Since this is my house you’re staying in, there are rules that need to be followed understood?”
“Trust is the strongest bond in a partnership and rules help develop that trust.”
“Next time just say yes. And don’t call it a partnership, that sounds weird. First up, the bathroom is the first door on the right. You may ONLY leave this room to use the bathroom, but make it quick and quiet. I have snacks and water here in the room for you. I have a game here for you to play, I think it might help us understand this whole situation. I’ll be back in seven hours, then we can figure this out, okay?”
Tessa nodded, but Gibby didn’t believe she really understood. He exited out his door, leaving Tessa there alone. Not even five seconds later, Gibby swung the door back open.
“Okay, if you have to leave just don’t be a nuisance to anyone okay?”
“I will not leave.”
Gibby stared at her in the eyes.
“When you leave, don’t kill anyone either. Not because killing off the evil people is bad, but because you're not judge and executioner. Plus actions have consequences here.” Gibby kept a straight face through that bold-faced lie.
“And if you see a blonde hair, emo looking girl in a hoodie, remember to tell me.”
Gibby rushed out. He turned around to look at the window. He knew this wasn’t going to end well.
Tessa peaked out the window and caught a glimpse of Gibby walking away.
“Where does a man spend seven hours where a female can not? I can only imagine some type of gentlemen club.”
Before Tessa finished spying, a cat appears right outside the window. The black cat hissed at Tessa, who had now determined that this feline could only be up to no good. The cat made it way up the house, with Tessa following shortly behind. They both balanced atop the roof of the house. Tessa could sense that this was a being of pure evil.
“This house is under my protection fiend.”
Tessa sprung to action, running full speed at the cat. Fully prepared the cat ran, but Tessa speed and mobility matched that of the cat. The two played a game of tag, spanning across the roof of numerous houses. Their game only ended once Tessa chased him to an alley where the cat stopped. She had fallen right into his trap. From both sides of the alley, more cats came into view, each hiding an evil presence behind their innocent faces. Tessa was taken aback.
“How does such an army of evil exist?!” Tessa did not back down though. She ran at her foes with a battle-cry. The cats did the same. The bloodbath was only stopped by the sudden opening of a door, splitting each party on different sides. Out stepped Josh, who was very confused by the scene. Josh ignored who he took for a Link cos-player for now, kneeling down and placing down fish for the cats to eat. The large group of cats tore the fish apart swiftly before scattering, leaving only the cat Tessa had presumed to be their leader. Josh began to pet the cat, leaving Tessa even more shocked.
“Have you conquered these small devil-ish lions?”
“You mean the alley-cats? They’re not any different from any other cats. Maybe a bit hungrier.”
“But why does such evil creatures bow down to you simply for food?”
“Well, they're just cats, you know, pets.”
“Pets? Like horses?”
“You know, you ask a lot of questions for such a mysterious girl. Are you supposed to be Link?”
Tessa kneeled before Josh, who she now saw as an amazing conqueror. Josh was flustered by the action.
“No, I am Tessa and I have come from my own land to vanquish a now hidden evil.”
“Please don’t bow, it’s embarrassing.”
Tessa rose to her feet.
“Well, I’m Josh. Nice to meet you.”
“It is.”
“If you’re looking for a hidden evil could you be talking about the lizardmen who hide among humanity?”
“Do such fiends exist?”
“It’s only a rumor, but I heard that the whole world is run by lizardmen.”
“Interesting. I will look into this during my adventure. Thank you Round One, I believe today you have truly saved me from a lost battle,” she said looking at the cat. Tessa ran off into the streets with a new enemy in mind. Josh wasn’t too sure what had just happened. He looked the cat in its cute face, “Round One huh? Ow. I wonder if Scotty will be at school today.”
[I went to school the other day. I’ll reward myself with the day off.] This was Scotty line of thinking for a lot more days than he’d like to admit, this being one of those days. Due to Doki-Doki, his power-up, school was a huge hassle for him. Minutes can stretch into what feels like hours when Scotty heart beat picks up. While this may have given him the necessary time to think some of his actions through thoroughly, it can make uncomfortable or stressful moments last an eternity. This morning, Scotty was trying to raise some quick money for his gaming fix. Instead, time has slowed to a crawl from his perspective. He was getting chewed out by a customer of his, an older lady who was very disappointed how her lawn turned out last time. She slammed the door after she was done yelling at him. Scotty started his breathing exercises to lower his heart rate.
[Screw her! Does she expect me to get out a ruler and measure out the height of the grass.] Scotty walked over to his mower and tried to start it up, but could not get it to go. Unbeknownst to him, he was blocking the whole sidewalk. Any normal person would just walk around him, so that should tell you a lot about the girl who stood right behind him, waiting. As Scotty gave the cord another pull, his elbow went slamming into her.
“Woah, sorry.”
He turned around to see Tessa, who had blocked the blow with her hand.
“If you did not mean to strike me, why swing at me in the first place.”
“I was just trying to start my lawn mower, but it’s harder to start than unwanted homework."
Tessa was puzzled, “Homework?”
Scotty was also puzzled, “Homework… Like from school.” She shrugged at the notion that what he said would clear up the misunderstanding.
“If you don’t know what that is then you should probably not be skipping school.”
“Ah, school is in session, which begs the question of why a kid like you are not there.”
“Hey, you look younger than me!” Tessa laughs
“That is untrue, you dress young, like a boy who has not seen battle.”
“So are you cosplaying Link or something because Link doesn’t talk.”
“I am Tessa and I’ve have chased a wicked being to this plains” Scott laughs uncontrollably, gaining his revenge. Tessa stands around waiting for his laughter to stop.
“Okay, I need to get back to work, so if you don’t mind.” Tessa watches as he once again tries and fails to start the mower.
“It’s kinda embarrassing if you’re standing right behind me.”
“Yes, it is, for you that is. How do you fail your task repeatedly if this is your work.”
“Trust me, it’s not my fault.”
“What must be done with this device can be done by hand if it won’t work.”
“You can’t cut the grass without it.”
“Ah! You are trying to cut this grass. For spare currency correct?” Scotty nodded.
“Then I shall help you.”
Tessa makes her way to the middle of the yard and drew her wooden sword. Scotty watched, eager to see what she was going to do. [ She'll probably use some sort of power-up, but it still won't be up to this ladies standards.] Tessa raised one leg and with a sudden yell, she pushed off the other getting a perfect spin. From her sword flew a beautiful white energy that sliced through the short grass. And with that done, her spin came to an end. She walked off the freshly cut yard perplexed, "Must be unlucky. Let's try the next patch, maybe we'll get something from there." Scotty, in dismay, fell to his knees.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
"Get something? We'll be lucky if we don't have to pay her for this disaster! Look what you did to her yard!" The grass was cut uneven yet very short. So short in fact that the dirt was on top of most patches. The yard had now looked as if someone flipped the entire thing over. Dirt started to rain back onto the field.
"I think 'thank you' is what you seek to say"
"What!? Are you sure about that?! Do you even think?!"
"I think so." Scotty's heart raced as his anger built up.
"If thanks are not coming, I'll be on my way Rude One."
Tessa walked pass Scotty, leaving the mess in his hands. Scotty tried to use the now sluggish time to think of a way out of this, but to no avail. The door to the house swung open so Scotty took off, leaving his lawn mower as evidence. Gibby had no clue how much trouble his new partner was causing while he was at school.
[I know I can re-save at any point, but it's just too dangerous. Since I can only load the most recent save point, it'd be foolish to keep saving everytime I accomplish something. I might put myself in a deadlock situation where I can't change the future no matter what. My safest bet is to keep the save point at the well, especially with Noa and Tessa's unpredictable natures.]
So these are the things Gibby thinks about during class... No wonder he didn't notice the teacher call on him. Marmaduke turns around and slams his fist into Gibby desk, bringing him back to reality.
"Wake up princess." The class joined in Marmaduke's laughter.
"That's enough Marmaduke, keep it up and I'll talk to your coach." Ms. Valerie’s class was about to end so she had very little patience.
"So Gilbert, do you remember?"
"Um, can you restate the question?"
Before Valerie could reply the bell rang and kids began packing up. Valerie lets out a sigh.
"Now remember, tickets to Prom are on sale near the main office."
As Gibby was trying to leave Valerie pulled him to the side.
"I feel like you're here but not here you know? Does this have something to do with Noa skipping school?"
"So you don't actually care about me or the bullying, you just want to know about your teacher's pet."
"Don't say that Gilbert... Name calling isn't nice. Everyone is really worried about Noa, even her parents. You're probably closes to her, why the sudden change?"
"It's just a phase. She doesn't even talk to me anymore so ask someone else."
He walked away, frustrated about the whole conversation.
Gibby turned down the hallway and approached the old soda machine. He didn't trust it one bit. Like every other machine in this school that wasn’t an arcade cabinet, it didn’t work properly. [ It'll probably give me a soda...] Gibby thought before pressing the button for a water.
The can of soda loudly made it way down the dispenser, but before Gibby could grab it, he was pushed to the side by Marmaduke and his gang.
"Hey look Marmadork, a free dew."
"Oh cool, the best kind of drink, a free one." He reached down and grabs the can before clawing at it's impossible to open top.
"I can't open it. Here you can have it" He said looking at Gibby
Gibby extended his hand but was only handed disappointment when Marmaduke passed it back to one of his friends. He ate it whole. Gibby had had enough, "$1.50"
"Oh didn't see you there Ghillie. Sorry, but I didn't drink it, he did."
"$1.50 or I turn that background character into coins."
"Watch who you're calling names buddy!" said the background character.
"Hey shut up for a second Rando, let me handle this," Marmaduke said before stepping up to Gibby who proceed to ready up. Marmaduke laughed at him again, giving Gibby an unpleasant déjà vu.
"I don't get it. you're just a meathead, why do you act so cocky. Someone needs to put you in your place." Marmaduke cracked his knuckles.
Gibby wasted no time, punching Marmaduke and sending him into the soda machine. Marmaduke stood back up, a bit shaken from the gut punch. "How did he throw such a strong punch, I-I thought he was powerless!?" that one guy said.
"I've practiced boxing."
"That was nothing, now it's my turn to-" Marmaduke couldn't finish due to the next punch. He managed to react, grabbing Gibby's fist.
"You think this is a game jock?"
"You obviously do, talking about turns."
The two went back and forth, trading blows. Marmaduke's power-up, Monkey Business, gave him the strength of Donkey Kong, making the few punches he was able to land that much more devastating. The spectators grew in number as the fight made it way down the hall. It was only stopped when Coach Reggie stepped in, restraining Gibby.
"Save the punches for Punch-Out kid, this is school." Gibby looked around at the crowd they had gathered before snatching his arm from Reggie. Reggie, not wanting his prized pupil to be suspended decided to handle the situation.
"SCRAM GUYS, THIS ISN'T SOME RAID. Get to arcade club Marmaduke, or you'll be playing Tetris when you get there." Marmaduke and Gibby both glared at each other, wiping their bleeding noses.
With the crowd dispersed, the coach pulls Gibby to the side.
"Listen... kid, what's your name."
[I didn't join arcade club this time around so I guess Reggie didn't even bother to learn my name.]
"Gilbert."
"Well Gilbert, tell me what you were thinking. Marmaduke could have killed a jock like you.”
“Yea right, I was the one holding back.”
“Okay… kid, Imma do some explaining to you. Assuming you don't want to get suspended, we'll keep this little rampage of yours on the hush-hush."
"He started it."
"He didn't start anything okay? No-one did. Nothing happened."
"So that's how it is, everyone turns a blind eye to how the nerds treat us jocks at this school huh."
"Well look at you, you're asking for it. You have to focus on self-improvement. Don't want to get bullied? Better yourself so you're not a target anymore."
"You're awful with advice, you sure you should be a coach?"
"Okay, think about this... kid. What's your next move? All you do is play sports. What are you gonna do when you grow up? What does the future hold for you? You're a junior already, you got to be planning out your future."
"My future is making sure you even get to have a future!"
"Huh?"
Gibby stormed off, leaving the coach confused in the hallway. In his fit of rage, Gibby forgot about Tessa at home. He ends up wondering over north for hours, looking for a gang to take his rage out on. He sat in the dark alley till he was found by a familiar face.
"Wassup?" Noa says, this being the first time she has seen Gibby sad.
"Oh, it's you."
"What, you finally understand how much the world sucks?" Noa slumps on the wall next to Gibby.
"Yep. Now I'm looking for someone to take my anger out on."
"You know this is The Great's territory."
"No, we're over north, this is area is under free rein."
"Yea, but Alexander and another member are over here claiming the land. They have been clearing the streets this whole day."
“Whatever, I’ll fight anyone at this point.” Noa manages to contain her laughter, but her covering her mouth gave it away.
“What so funny?”
“I’ve heard Alex and you use to be boxing partners. He said you never won once and you started before him.”
“Well it’s Alex, he’s always the best at what he does. Makes you wonder why he’d become a gang leader.”
“Yea, but, why would you want to fight him right now if you know he’s going to win?” Gibby shook his head
“You won’t understand.” He struggled to think of a way to explain it. “It’s not about winning. It’s like when we use to play Street Fighters. It didn’t matter to me that your pick countered mines or that I’d lose most matches. I just enjoyed playing Zangief. I enjoyed the well fought out match.”
Noa realizes something about Gibby in that moment and smiles.
“You know what? You’re not that bad when you’re not clowning around with Scot-”
“OH SHIT, TESSA! Sorry Noa, I'm glad you're alive and all, but I got to find someone before Alex does.” "Alive?" Gibby jumps off the wall, running from alley to alley screaming Tessa’s name. Noa reluctantly followed him. Little did they know Tessa was already in a dangerous dance with Alex.