At Bird Brains Lawyering Co, Mina and Trudy reclined in their beanbag chairs doing anything but lawyering.

The two friends clutched grey, rectangular retro controllers in their hands. Wires extended into an old school, hissing but still functioning Super Wintendo Entertainment System (WNES).

The square cartridge inside the system read, 'Pixel Panic' and it was inscribed in pixelated writing.

*Click click click. Beep beep beep*

*Eight bit dying sound*

"Aww c'mon Trudy! You totally pounded my pixels!"

Mina nearly threw down her controller in frustration. "I'm such a miserable muck up at this game!"

Trudy shook her head and offered a round smile. "Hey, you're pretty good at Eagle Attorney."

"Well, duh," Mina said rolling her eyes. "It's my job! But I didn't graduate the Lawson Legal Academy just to be good at pixelated court cases!"

"Speaking of that," Trudy muttered looking at a pair of empty desks that belonged to Raven and Mina. "Shouldn't you be lawyering IRL right now?"

Mina sunk deep in her chair and sipped deep into her frappechino. "Raven flew off to that Pair O' Dice Resort and Hotel again and things kinda slow down when he's gone. It seems I'm equally undesirable with clients and sexy hunks!"

"Nonsense," Trudy said, stretching out her limbs on the beanbag. "You solved two high profile cases? Isn't that enough...?"

"Meh..." Mina muttered. "To the newspapers, I'm still just the great Raven Lockwood's protege. They think he's just pulling the strings."

"Well," Trudy said, a slyness in her deep voice. "He can't pull the strings if he's pulling slot machine levers at the casino! How about you get out there into the world of sexy single lawyers!"

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Mina's eyes and outlook brightened. "Oh lawdy! You're right, Trudy, I should get on the Court Date-ing App!"

*Ding dong*

The doorbell sounded and Mina raised her thick eyebrows. "Or maybe I don't have to. Wonder who that is...my new client...or Mr. Right!"

"Or both!" Trudy grinned giving her a thumbs up. "A tall, dark and handsome client in need!"

"Brown chicken brown cow!" Mina exclaimed running out of the room in her socks. She headed down the stairs into the front lobby and when she saw who was at the door, she let out a sigh.

There was a beautiful and very gothic looking girl at the door. Draped in a veil that goths often wore to avoid the sun, she also carried a black parasol to dark out the sun even further. She sported a white schoolgirls outfit and a poison purple skirt. Her boots were laced with so many bows and ribbons that were normally worn by young girls or fluffy dogs. She clutched a fabric tote bag in her hand.

Mina opened the door. "Hi Winona!" she said with a frown. "I thought you were a client for a second."

Winona pursed her purple lipsticked mouth. "As much as I appreciate your glum outlook as a goth, I am a client! Something absolutely dreary has happened and not in a good way!"

"What?" Mina asked. "Did they run out of spider web print skirts at Hot Gothic?"

"Darling," Winona said with a scowl. "They haven't sold those since the 00's, Now the store is called Not Gothic."

Mina shrugged her shoulders. "Uhm...did someone smile at you and tell you to have a nice day again?"

"All the time," Winona said, gloomily. "But nowadays, I can tell most people are faking it and are living shadowy lives fit for a Poe story. No, it's Chet!"

Mina rolled her eyes. "You're still dating that hipster?! Doesn't that guy think he's trapped in a retro video game or something?"

Winona sighed and batted her mascara brushed eyes. "I don't know why I put up with him still. Perhaps I'm hoping to change him like a customizable character..."

Winona took her hand and slapped her own face. "Ugh..." she grimaced, "now he's got me talking video game metaphors like him."

She moved her face close to Mina... so close Mina winced from Winona's musky cobweb scented perfume. "But the thing is...he's gone! And worse...I think he was kidnapped!"

"What makes you think that?!" Mina said, her eyes dilated in shock.

Winona quickly reached into her tote bag and removed a black GS3 (Game Station 3) with odd wires and fractured parts jutting out at odd angles. It looked like it had been smashed with a sledge hammer.

"I found this in our bed when I returned home!" Winona said, her usually nonplused, resting witch face looking startled.

There was a note written in what looked like blood, "Chet...if you don't pay the gaming fee, this console will be yer head!"

"Now now..." Mina said, placing a hand on her gothic friends shoulder. "Come inside and let me CONSOLE you!"

She covered her mouth and squeaked. "That one might have been too soon!"