As soon as Mars uttered those words, the once bare city was slowly seeded with people going about their day, all sorts of NPCs walked about, chattering or mumbling to themselves.
"Don't lose guard, it's just a cutscene," Mars said. Aya looked into the crowd and sure enough, some muscle bound thugs strolled forward as they chased a lady who was screaming.
"Help me!" The woman yelled running from person to person on the crowded streets, she was ignored and pushed off by the NPCs until she hit Mars and Aya, falling into Aya's arms and looking up at her.
"Please you've got to help me they're-"
One of the men jumped forward, snatching the girl up and throwing her over his shoulder like a sack of goods.
Another came up to them, towering over Mars and Aya, he wore the strangest white and blue horizontal tank top Aya had ever seen, with a hairstyle that appeared to be modeled after a skyscraper’s landing pad.
The thug took off his sunglasses, grinning menacingly at the girls.
"Are we going to have a problem?" He asked. Mars didn't even wait before she was yelling.
"Aya cover me!" She slammed her brass knuckles into the thug's face, watching him stagger backward clutching his face. He fell into the support of the other thugs, nearly landing on the ground as they struggled to catch his muscular form.
Due to the PG nature of the game, there was no blood, only a swollen cheek, and one or two missing teeth. The man got up, pushing off against one of the men offering support. He jabbed a thumb in their direction.
"You'll pay for this!" He said before grabbing the girl and then running off sobbing.
The rest of the thugs stood in front of them. Pounding their fists in an attempt to intimidate Mars and Aya, they intended to start a fight.
All around them NPC citizens gasped and ran, not wanting to get caught up between the criminal thugs and the two girls that were about to fight them.
Adrenaline surged through Aya's veins as she lifted her gun to shoot one of the thugs in his face. The bullet bounced off, leaving the enemy gone in a spray of pixelated dust.
"Good job, Aya!" Mars said locking her hands together and cracking one of the female thugs on the head.
Aya nodded, lifting her rifle and taking aim.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three things vanished in a burst of pixels.
"Wow 3X Combo!" The automated computer voice said in excitement.
A round of ammunition appeared in front of Aya prompting her to pick it up and keep firing. One of the men lunged, grabbing Mars and trapping her in a bear hug.
She struggled a bit before throwing her head back and dealing damage to the enemy. He let go immediately, allowing Aya to finish him off.
Bang!
And with one final hit, the last of the men disappeared.
"Stage One Clear! Congratulations!"
"Not bad Aya," Mars said. "That gun is pretty good in your hands,"
"Thanks," Aya said as the two of them began strolling through the city looking for the girl who had been kidnapped. Suddenly the head thug who had previously run away, zoomed past them with the girl still on his shoulders kicking and screaming.
"We have to follow the leader right?" Aya said.
Mars nodded. Both of them took off, running after the criminal and the damsel in distress.
----------
They end up in another area of the city, a run down residential neighborhood filled with apartments and fire escapes that dropped down from above.
"Careful Aya, they fall from above with this stage,"
"Stage Two Begin!"
Right on cue, the whiny leader ran past, pointing at Mars and Aya.
"You'll never catch me," he laughed, almost comically. He ran again leaving Mars and Aya to face off against another round of muscular men and women.
This group was harder than the last one, the men had firearms of their own and took steady aim at the girls.
"Mars duck!" Aya said grabbing her friend around the waist and pulling her down to avoid a bullet. Aya propped her gun up on her shoulder, taking the shot and offing the enemy.
He disappeared in a burst of pixels yelping as he did. Mars grinned.
"You're getting the hang of that, you make great support!" The girl said jumping up and delivering a precise uppercut to one of the enemies.
Aya felt a presence behind her but before she could react, a fist slammed into her stomach and sent her flying across the shoddy residential district.
She grunted, but like before it didn't hurt, looking up she saw a hulking figure much bigger than the other thugs in the area. She gasped, watching him stomp towards her with the intent to grab her and end her game.
Aya scrambled for her gun, raising it and taking a shot.
Bang!
The bullet seemed to vanish into the brute's body. The more Aya shot the closer the thug.
"Go for a headshot!" Mars yelled from the side as she grabbed another thug and summarily ended them. Aya jumped back, grabbing one of the rounds of ammo just lying around her and reloading the rifle.
With careful aim but a shaky grip, she fired her first shot.
Clang!
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The bullet bounced off against the wall, hitting a random enemy approaching Mars. Aya tried to calm her racing nerves as the hulking figure approached her.
Steadying her grip she positioned the rifle again. Firing a shot she knew was sure to impact.
She struck gold, sending the giant muscled figure into a crying frenzy as he exploded into pixels.
"Great job!" Mars said cheering her friend on.
"Stage Two Clear! Congratulations!"
"Quickly Aya after him!" Mars said with a laugh, Aya tailed the criminal still holding the girl over his shoulder, she swung wildly behind him, with every move he made.
Aya and Mars gave chase finally cornering the man in an area that seemed like a park. All around them, trees and park benches dotted the landscape of the open area.
"Think you had the last laugh? Think again," He said tossing the girl aside. Mars caught her and the girl thanked them before running away.
"Here comes the boss," Mars said pounding her fists together ready to begin the fight.
The main boss of the game reached into his invisible tank top pocket and retrieved a serum, he took a swig, gulping down the liquid before they could move a finger to stop him.
"Oh no!" Aya gasped as she watched the man grow ten times in size, veins popped from his neck and his skin took on an angry red hue. The boss roared, facing them with bulging, rippling muscles.
Aya yelped as he suddenly picked up a park bench and flung it at them, Mars stood in front of her, punching the flying bench in the air, it shattered, crumbling into dust
"Wow," Aya gasped, she jumped out from behind Mars, firing a round of ammo at the enemy.
The gang leader only laughed demonically, striding towards them sinisterly. Mars picked up a large park bench, uprooting it from where it had been screwed to the ground.
With a heave, she flung it at the man as well. It broke upon impact with his face, making him see stars and allowing Aya to fire a series of headshots.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The boss wailed, clutching his head where Aya had shot out his eyes. He flailed around grabbing trees and hurling them in the general direction of the two.
Aya and Mars ducked, narrowly avoiding being hit by virtual trees as they ran forward to continue attacking.
"Take this!" Aya yelled, blasting away. She received combo after combo only serving to fill her rounds of ammo.
The gang leader fell to his knees, weeping as he did.
"You're done," Mars said to the boss now shrunken to the size of a regular human. It appeared the effects of the serum were wearing off.
Mars and Aya watched him continue to shrink and shrivel into a sickly little man, now he was no longer the muscular man he was when they first met in stage one.
The sounds of police sirens caught their attention and drew them away from the defeated boss, out of nowhere a series of squad cars surrounded them. Officers jumped out, aiming their guns at the players.
Aya put her hands up in fright already planning what to tell the cops on scene.
The girl from before jumped out of one of them pointing at the culprit.
"That's him, daddy! That's the guy who kidnapped me!" She ran to Mars and Aya's side. "These girls saved me!"
An aged man stepped out of the police car wearing a pair of aviator glasses and a police uniform. He had a serious expression on his face as he surveyed the area, the rubble from the fight, and his daughter.
He held out his hand to Mars and Aya.
"Thank you so much for saving my daughter Molly," he said. The rest of the police officers walked up to the shriveled boss and took him away in handcuffs.
"You're a hero of this city, for too long we've been terrorized by these gangs but thanks to your efforts we've been able to teach at least one of them a lesson.
"Stage Three Clear! Congratulations!"
"You have cleared the beginner level! Game over please select a new difficulty!"
----------
Aya and Mars exited the game with matching smiles on their face, Aya giggled, still feeling the rush and excitement from having to fight for her life within a city of thugs.
Mars nodded in pride.
"No bad for someone who's never been to a VR Arcade," she said nudging Aya gently.
"I'm so happy you let me see this, this is...honestly the best I've felt in a while Mars. Thank you," Aya said.
Mars paused, observing the genuine expression on Aya's face. She watched the girl place the VR Gear back in its resting position and stand up from her seat.
"Aya, it's been a while since I've had this much fun with someone too," Mars said.
The girls heard a ding and from the side of the machine, a clear plastic token was spat out from a little slot on the side.
"Please collect your prize token!" The game announced enthusiastically.
"Oh we got a prize," Aya said clapping her hands in excitement, Mars picked up the slim plastic token and took a look at it before presenting it to Aya.
"You can have the prize, come on let's get to the counter," Mars said.
Aya gasped.
"Really Mars? You don't want to share the prize?" Aya asked. Mars raised her hand shaking her head.
"You can have it, it's your day out,"
In the end, Aya walked out with her own copy of the game City Warrior.