“Bro he’s on your left!” Rama yelled, leaning far forward. His hands were sweaty and he breathed rapidly. All of his attention was on what was before him, his mind void of any other concern. When it came to gaming, he was very serious. Rama sat on the edge of his bed, holding his controller while talking through his gaming headset. He hadn’t gotten out of his bed all morning, having played for the past 4 hours to the detriment of his bladder. He currently wore a large black t-shirt along with red and black striped pajama pants.
“And I’m dead.” he exasperated.
He finally got up, going into his bathroom.
“I swear I’m off my game today.”
“Nah bro you’re good” Jet said through the headset. “That guy literally came outta nowhere.”
“Yeah but we were so close to winning. That’s the worst part, being close to victory but then some B.S. happens.”
Rama finished relieving himself, quickly washed his hands and went back to his bed. He laid in it, staring up at the ceiling.
“What other plans do you have for today bro?” Rama asked, not in the mood to play anymore.
“I got a full schedule.” Jet bragged. “I have manga and anime to binge.”
“What are you doing first?”
“First? I’m doing both at the same time.”
Rama sat up with a confused expression.
“Wait but don’t you watch subbed anime only?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’re gonna read the subtitles and read manga at the same time?”
“Yep.”
“How does that work?”
“It’s actually pretty simple. You prop your phone up right next to your laptop and dart your eyes back and forth. Works like a charm. My peripheral vision is now really good. ”
“Huh, ok.”
Rama laid back down, letting out a huge sigh.
“What about you bro? How are you spending your Saturday?” Jet inquired.
“I have no idea. Not really in the mood to play games or watch anime. Guess I could rewatch some movies I dunno.”
“You ok? You sound…out of it.”
“Do I?”
“Yeah, like you’re distracted.”
Jet was more perceptive than Rama thought. It had been three weeks since he had almost been killed. The events kept playing out in his mind, and it all seemed so surreal. At this point it all felt like a bad dream but one that he couldn’t forget. Nothing had happened since then and while he brushed off the concern of more people being sent after him, he couldn’t help but be paranoid. If only he had someone to report it to, or get some form of closure. How can one almost get killed and live life like nothing happened? He thought he could, but it’s a lot tougher than he anticipated.
“I’ve been thinking about what happened.” Rama confessed. “None of it felt real, you know? Like why me? Why in the world would some god from another dimension or whatever want me?”
“Maybe you’re special?”
“In what way?”
“Well, maybe they really needed a Bruce Lee fanatic and you’re the biggest one there is.”
“Very funny Jet” Rama deadpanned.
“Bro I really don’t know. I also can’t stop thinking about it. I got my butt kicked by a woman with gravity powers. That kind of thing tends to stick with you.”
“Right. How do you think Lorraine is doing? She hasn’t talked to us since then.”
“I think she’s mad at us. She moved seats and doesn’t acknowledge we exist.”
“Should we apologize? We did drag her into a fight. I dragged you into it too, so sorry about that.”
“Bro, I wasn’t going to let you get killed by a psycho gravity woman.”
“I know but-”
“I told you, that’s what friends are for, don’t sweat it.”
Rama could hear Jet sigh through the headset.
“Ok I’m changing plans, I’m gonna go check up on Lorraine today.” Jet pronounced.
“Really?”
“Yeah we haven’t thought about how she’s taking all this. I’m sure she has to get some things off her chest.”
“What if she really is angry though?”
“Eh, I'll wing it. I’m pretty charismatic and besides, she’s one of the boys.”
“Sounds like a plan. Her family runs the local Buddhist monastery right?”
“Think so. I’ll head over after lunch, you wanna come with me?”
“Yeah I’ll-”
A knock was heard on Rama’s door.
“Mom needs you to come down stairs!” his sister’s voice said from the other side, sounding slightly muffled.
“Ugh right now?”
“Yes! You’re not doing anything weird in there, are you?”
“No!” Rama shouted, ripping off his headset, flabbergasted by the accusation.
“You sure? I heard what teenage boys do in their rooms. They-”
“Mei stop! I’ll be right there.”
Rama grumbled to himself as he put his headset back on.
“Bro I gotta talk to you later, my mom needs me. I’ll text you.”
Rama took the headset off, strode to his door and opened it. Before him was his sister dressed in a large pink hoodie with blue jeans.
“I’m going ok?” Rama told her.
“Uh huh. I’m just glad you weren’t-”
“Why do you keep thinking about that? Stop it, you’re too young.”
“But we’re literally learning about it in school.”
They began to make their way down the stairs to the living room.
“I don’t care, hearing you talk about such things is way too weird for me. You’re like 8.”
“I’m 12 and you know it. I’m almost a teenager.”
“You say that as if it's gonna be some grand event. I’m telling you, being a teenager is not as fun as it sounds.”
“For you maybe.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Before he could get a response their mother approached them as they reached the base of the stairs. Their mother was wearing a long sleeved white collar skirt with a black skirt. On her feet were black high heels and her face was covered with makeup.
“Rama, I got called into work today so I’m gonna need you to take your sister to the mall and stay with her so she’s safe.”
“What?!” the siblings exclaimed in shock.
“Mom, I don't need him there!” Mei argued. “I’m meeting up with friends.”
“I know but you’re still too young to go around the mall unaccompanied. You know there are people out there who’d try to abduct you or worse.”
“Mom, I'll be fine! Rama would make me look bad.”
“And I don’t want to go!” Rama added. “Wait, why would I make you look bad?”
“Because walking around with your brother is lame!” Mei declared. “I’m not a baby. Do you want me to get made fun of?”
“I want you to be safe.” their mother replied softly. “It’s Saturday so you know it’s going to be packed. Rama, stick with your sister.”
“Come on mom, I got better things to do.” he argued.
“Like staying in your room?”
“Yes.”
“No. Take the train there. I’ll be back before dinner.”
Their mother whirled around and headed to their front door.
“You two be good ok? Love you.”
“Love you too mom” they groaned as she left the house.
Rama and Mei let out loud sighs after being left alone.
“Let’s get this over with,” Rama grumbled. “I’m going to change.”
“This is so lame” Mei complained.
***
Rama and Mei left the train and after a quick trek, made it to the mall known as Victor Gardens. It was a massive four story beige building with massive glass windows on each floor. Located in the center of downtown, Victor Gardens was the epicenter of the social lives of the town’s youths. It housed everything from theaters to arcades, stores, and even an indoor water park. It was circular in shape, everything revolving around the massive fountain that laid in the center of the mall. Rama and his stood in front of the fountain as people moved around them like ants, going to and fro. His sister wore the same outfit as earlier but Rama now wore a black hoodie with the design of a blue dragon on the back with blue jeans. Mei stood a few feet apart from Rama, trying her best to make it appear like they weren’t together. As she spoke, she scanned the crowd for her friends.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Here’s what's gonna happen.” Mei began. “Once I see my friends, you and I don’t know each other.”
“Are you serious?” Rama inquired, annoyed.
“Yes! There’s no way I’m letting you follow us around.”
“This may shock you but I’m not too keen on following a bunch of little girls around either.”
“Surprising.”
“Alright smart aleck, just be back here back 4.”
“Yeah yeah.”
Mei noticed a group of girls exiting a clothing store.
“Hey girl!” a blonde girl in the group called out to her.
“Hey girl!” Mei replied, waving back.
“Remember, you don’t know me now” she gritted through her teeth.
“Uh huh”
Rama watched his sister leave him, joining her group of friends as they went off to do whatever in the world prepubescent girls do. Shopping? Talk about boys? Rama didn’t know when he was his sister’s age and he definitely didn’t know now. Alone, he decided to waste some time.
“Might as well go see Sifu” he said to himself.
He headed up one of the mall’s many escalators to the second floor. After a brief 5 minute journey past clothing stores, book stores, and restaurants, he found his master’s studio. The sign outside wasn’t in the greatest condition. It was supposed to spell “The Dragon’s Den” in bright red letters but two of the letters were missing so it instead spelt “He Drgon’s Den. It didn’t exactly have the best reputation, with people doubting if the place was legit. It didn’t help that Sifu Ramos didn’t look like a legitimate master martial artist.
Rama entered the studio. It was a slightly run down martial arts school, consisting of nothing more than an open space, a mirror for the room’s left wall, and red mats placed on the floor to cushion falls. In the back of the room was a wooden door which was Sifu Ramos’ office. Despite it being peak business hours for the mall in general, the place was empty.
“Sifu?” Rama called out, closing the door behind him.
“Rama that you?” a voice said, coming from the room in the back.
“Yes Sifu.”
“I’ll be right there. I’m just, ah goddamn it!”
The door opened, revealing his master. Sifu Ramos was a tall man, standing around 6’2. He had wavy dirty blonde hair with bright blue eyes. On his face was a slight five o’clock shadow which he scratched at as he joined Rama. He was adorned in a red martial arts gi with a black belt which had a depiction of a golden dragon on the back which Rama could see thanks to the mirror wall. His master had a depressed look on his face.
“Sifu, are you ok?” Rama asked.
“Do you know anything about cryptocurrency?”
Rama shook his head.
“Well piece of advice, don’t get involved in it. I lost all of my money. Like, five seconds ago.”
“All of your money?”
“All of my savings! Gone in the blink of an eye! Turns out investing in doggycoin is not the future." Sifu Ramos reflected.
“Why did you-”
“Because everyone online was like oh it’s the future! Cryptocurrency is where it’s at! Oh, yeah give me your money and you’ll be making bank they said!”
“I-I’m sorry to hear that Sifu.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll make it all back. I’ll invest in something else which will recoup my losses tenfold.”
“Sifu, the amount of ponzi schemes you get involved in is concerning.”
“Nah” he dismissed with a wave of the hand. “I’m gonna strike it rich one day, you’ll see. Once I do, this place is getting a big upgrade.”
Rama didn’t want to ruin his master’s dream so he nodded in agreement.
“So Sifu, why is it so empty?”
“Business has not been good. Turns out I got killed in an online review.”
“What happened?”
“Apparently beating up a parent is not good business. Dad comes in here complaining that I’m a hack so I demonstrated that my skills are legitimate. Wasn’t a good idea in hindsight.”
“Wow.”
“I’ll be fine. I always bounce back. Speaking of business, where have you been these past few weeks?”
Rama grimaced. He hadn’t been in the mood to continue coming to the studio, the idea of practicing only reminding him of the real fight he was in not too long ago.
“I haven’t been feeling like it.”
Sifu Ramos leaned forward, looking into his student’s eyes, seeing something beneath the surface.
“What happened?” he asked, sounding concerned.
Rama almost let out what happened but stopped himself, knowing he wouldn’t be believed. It hurt to hold it in.
“Nothing Sifu” he lied. “I’ve just been lazy.”
“Ok cool so you're lying to me now.”
“I-I’m not lying.”
“Uh huh. Don’t make me beat it out of you Rama. I know my students like the back of my hand.”
He emphasized by showing Rama the back of his right hand, only to notice a new scratch on it.
“Where did that come from?” he wondered. “Anyway, what’s wrong with you?”
“I…had to use what you taught me.” Rama confessed.
“You got into a fight? With a bully? Was it that Todd kid?”
“No it wasn’t Todd. Just some….” he trailed off, not sure what to say.
Saying ‘assassin from another dimension’ didn’t feel right.
“Some person from out of town” he decided.
“They tried to rob you or something?”
“Something like that.”
Sifu Ramos stepped away and strode to the mirror wall. He stared intently at his reflection, deep in thought.
“Did you win?”
“Yeah, yeah I won.”
“Good. If word got around one of my best students got his ass kicked that’d make me look bad.”
“Sifu I’m definitely not one of the best here.”
“Not officially but you can definitely become a black belt. If you put your all into it, that is.”
“If you say so.”
“I know so.”
Sifu Ramos turned back around, noticing Rama’s apparel.
“You didn’t come here to practice did you?”
“Not today Sifu. I was forced to bring my sister to the mall and thought I’d stop by.”
“Shame. Are you coming in on Monday?”
Rama wanted to decline but the pressure from the question was palpable.
“Yes Sifu,” he relented.
“Good! See you then Rama.”
“See you Sifu, try not to lose any more money.”
“I want to promise I won’t, but can’t.”
The two laughed as Rama left the studio. As he walked through the mall he checked his phone, noticing that it’d only been about twenty minutes since his sister left him. He had a lot more time to kill.
“Arcade it is, I guess.”
Victor Gardens mall was home to a massive arcade that housed every type of game imaginable, ranging from rail gun games to the latest fighting games. The floor was made of a carpet designed with stars, the place going with a space theme that’s reflected in its title: Starlight Arcade. Rama walked down an aisle of arcade cabinets, not too sure what to play. Bright lights flashed from each cabinet. The place was crowded as dozens of people ranging from small children to enthusiasts in their thirties played at the cabinets. Rama wasn’t a huge fan of arcades, finding them too crowded for his liking but it was a decent place to waste a few hours. He eventually found something that caught his eye. It wasn’t a standard arcade cabinet but a wall with four rows of 5 blue buttons. It was essentially a fancy version of whack-a-mole, the goal being to hit every button that lit up to earn as many points as possible. Rama stepped up to it and pressed the start button.
One button lit up which he pushed. Then another lit up. He hit that too. Very quickly more and more buttons began to lit up. Though he didn’t know why, Rama began to put in effort. He began to move his arms as quickly as possible and darted his eyes up and down in order to make sure he didn’t miss anything. He entered the zone. He moved at an incredible speed, smacking each button hard as soon as it lit up. By the end of it all, he only missed two. Rama was sweating from exerting himself, wondering why he tried so hard. He backed away, seeing that a small crowd had gathered behind him, mouths agape.
“Good god that was fast.” someone gasped.
“Almost superhuman,” another said.
Rama looked at his hands, confused. Was he always that fast? Out of the muttering crowd came a loud whistle.
“Now that was impressive.” a voice said.
From the crowd emerged what appeared to be a teenager. He wore a black fleece jacket over a black t-shirt. His pants were baggy and long which covered most of his black boots. But what stuck out wasn’t his clothing but his face. His skin was as white as a porcelain bowl, making him appear albino. His hair was long and spiky, only slightly darker than his skin. His bright red eyes gleamed at Rama. Were those colored contacts? Besides the white skin, his ears also stuck out. They were slightly pointy, going back at an angle.
“That was good, real good” he complimented. “Mind if I give it a go?”
Rama wiped the sweat from his brow.
“Yeah, yeah go ahead.”
He stepped back as the stranger stood in front of the wall. He smirked at Rama.
“I bet you I can beat your score.” he declared.
Before pushing start, the stranger got into a fighting stance. His arms were raised, his feet spread apart. Only then did he begin. The first button barely flashed when he smacked it. The crowd gasped once more, becoming slightly larger as the stranger continued to play. He moved fast, very very fast. Rama could barely keep track of the arms as the stranger hit button after button. His movements became a blur. No matter which button lit up, he hit it with breakneck speed. The stranger soon finished playing, getting a perfect score. The crowd applauded the performance.
“Woah,” Rama said in awe.
“Ah it’s nothing” the stranger dismissed. “It’s just a game.”
“That was still amazing.”
“I bet you’re better at other games. Wanna play some with me?”
“Ugh sure. What’s your name?”
“My name is Charlie, last name Wilson.”
“I’m Rama Leeroy.”
“Rama Leeroy. I like that name. It’s a good name.”
“Thanks?”
Despite him claiming that Rama would be better at other games, that’s not what happened. In anything that involved reflexes like air hockey or foosball, Rama got destroyed. Rama thought he was fast but Charlie was something else, always appearing to be one step ahead. The only times that Rama won was for standard video games. For some reason his new found associate was bad at them, almost like he had never played them before. Despite his initial reservations due to his looks, Rama quickly became comfortable around Charlie.
“You know, they don’t have games like these where I come from,” Charlie revealed.
They had taken a break, sitting on one of the arcade’s many couches.
“Really now?” Rama responded. “Where are you from? Small town?”
“Very small town called Lebek. Only about 200 people. Coming here was quite the shock.”
“Interesting. How old are you?”
“What’s the equivalent?” Charlie pondered, tapping his chin. “I guess I’d say 17.”
“Equivalent? Did you move here from another country where they don’t measure ages like we do or something?”
“Yeah, another country. Totally different from how you guys do things here in every shape and form. I’ve been here for 3 weeks and it’s overwhelming but I love it. Seriously, the technology here is insane.”
“Wow, sounds like you lived in the middle of nowhere.”
“Tell me about it. Takes forever to do anything! Takes weeks to send a letter from one village to another. And unlike here, there’s nothing to do. We don’t have all these games. We could go to church, or work on a trade. Very boring. It’s not boring here, it’s exciting.”
“Well I’m glad I got to show you some of the better games here. ”
“Yeah it’s been fun. I came here by myself so I had no idea what I was doing.”
“I only came here because my sister dragged me.”
“Sister?”
Rama nodded.
“Yeah I had to bring my sister here. I was supposed to escort her around but she didn’t want me to embarrass her in front of her friends so I came here to waste time.”
“Hah! Guess no matter where you are, kids are the same. Does she have her hair in twin-tails and is wearing a pink hoodie?”
“Yeah how’d you know?”
“I think I saw her with her friends earlier. You two look alike.”
“Do we? I can’t tell if that should be a compliment or an insult.”
Charlie chuckled some more.
“I’d say a compliment” he opined. “Do you not like her?”
“She’s annoying.” Rama answered. “She acts like she’s my age and constantly denigrates me. She’s a brat.”
“Sounds like siblings being themselves to me.”
“I guess but I wished she acted how she used to. When she was little, she thought I was the coolest. She followed me everywhere, wanting to do what I did. Now it’s like…she wants nothing to do with me.”
Charlie nodded, getting up.
“You love your sister don’t you?”
“Love is a strong word. I tolerate her. She hates me.”
“Hmmm, fascinating.”
Rama got up as well, joining Charlie.
“So did you want to play something else? You know over there is-”
“I’m going to kill your sister.”
Rama paused. What did he say? He must’ve been hearing things. It’s loud in the arcade, so he probably misheard.
“What was that?” Rama asked.
“I’m killing your sister,” Charlie said coldly.
“T-that’s not funny man. You shouldn’t-”
“You should’ve gone with that priestess when you had the chance.”
Rama’s eyes widened, his body freezing.
“I can see why you want to live so badly,” Charlie continued. “You have friends, family, all this fun stuff to do. If we take away all of your reasons for living, you’ll come along with us right? Like, if you have no reason to live, you won’t live.”
“Are you-”
“Yup! I’m from another world! I’ll be right back, I have to kill your sister.”
Rama reached out to Charlie but after merely blinking, he was gone. Rama’s body began to move, finally responding to what Charlie had said. He looked around frantically, trying to see where Charlie went. He abruptly stopped, realizing where he was going. Rama broke into a sprint, rushing his way out of the arcade.
“Mei!” he screamed, running through the mall to get to his sister before it was too late.