Ayda leaned back against a wall carpeted in gaudy pink and blue, one knee bent so her foot could rest flat against it. On hand carried a soft drink in a blue paper cup with a straw. The other cradled a big bucket of popcorn.

People milled to and fro all about the wide open space, though most waited at the concession stand. Some bought tickets, other stood around socializing, including a large and annoying group of college kids. A tall, dumb looking boy said something, and the clique erupted in laughter. Ayda winced and let out a long breath. She prayed they were not there to see the same film, even if she knew that was unlikely. The theater would match the screen if that group didn't learn how to shut up between now and showtime.

Ayda took a sip of her drink. Root beer, like always. Anyone who drank anything else at the movies was just plain wrong. Her eyes slipped to the snack in her right arm. It smelled heavenly, but she couldn't well eat it with both hands occupied. Unless... She looked left, then right, and left again. In one swift motion she ducked her head low, stuck out her tongue, and collected a few kernels upon it before snapping them all back in her mouth. Overly buttered, salty, and a little stale, just how she liked it.

She was about to chance another bite when the door to her left opened. Out waltzed Jacqueline, her hair in braids and adorned in a pale yellow sundress. The style was in great contrast to Ayda's own band t-shirt, blue jeans, and grey sneakers.

"Finally." Ayda popped off the wall and joined her sister, who waited patiently.

"There was a line," Jackie said. Together, they walked toward the back of the room.

"Of course there was," Ayda rolled her eyes. "I still don't understand why I have to come with you."

"It's just a girl thing."

"No it's not. I'm a girl, and I don't get it, so clearly it's not a girl thing."

"Well, that's what we tell ourselves, since the real reason is kinda depressing," reasoned Jacqueline.

"Can't be any worse than standing out there all alone," Ayda shrugged.

"It's for protection, so some creepy guy doesn't jump us."

"I get that, but I don't think anyone would be dumb enough to do anything here. This place is kinda busy."

"You'd be surprised," Jackie mused as they hung a left hand turn down a dim hallway lined with double doors.

"That's fucked up," Ayda said.

"How are we just now having this conversation?" Jackie wondered aloud.

"It is kinda weird, isn't it?" Ayda agreed. "Then again, I guess I never really thought about it that way. I can handle most creepy guys."

"Not everyone can be as cool as you, Ms. Black Belt," teased Jackie.

"My dojo doesn't have belts," Ayda quickly refuted. "And you're damn right they can't." She stood a little straighter. "I'm the coolest."

"You'll get no argument from me."

Jacqueline took a right and them through an open set of doors. Inside, at the far end, was a big white sheet flanked on either side by drawn black curtains. The space between entrance and screen was filled with red and black chairs on a steep slope. The showing was modest. Only about half of the seats had heads sticking up over their backs. One blonde do in particular was of interest to the new arrivals.

"Looks like she saved us a seat," Jackie said quietly.

"I bet she draped her coat on them," added Ayda in similarly hushed tones.

"Lord knows it's big enough," Jacqueline chuckled. "How she wears that thing in this heat is beyond me."

The pair advanced down the aisle, stopping roughly in the middle of the room where their chaperone, Emma, sat. The graceful older woman stared straight forward with her ankles crossed and hands folded neatly in her lap. The only acknowledgement she gave to the arrival of the two girls was a flick of her eyes in their direction. She had, indeed, laid a long white coat across two seats to her left.

"Hah! I win." Ayda slipped past her sister to shuffle into the aisle. As she did, Emma gathered up her garment. Ayda sat next to her.

"Yeah, but we didn't actually bet anything, so I'm safe," assessed Jacqueline, claiming the seat next to her sister.

"That's what you think." Ayda wore a malicious grin.

"Oh no. Mom, save me." Jackie threw up sarcastic jazz hands, complimentary to her tone.

"Reap what you sow, dear," Emma said simply without looking at either of her daughters.

"What? Mom," Jackie insisted. Ayda laughed.

"Even Emma's on my side. There's nowhere for you to run."

"Well, fine." Jackie sat back in her chair and crossed her arms, still obviously overreacting. A smile graced her lips a moment later, one which Ayda returned. Emma watched them from the corner of her eye. She crossed her legs, and let a small satisfied grin adorn her face.

"I assume Bernard won't be making it," Ayda asked of the older woman.

"I'm sorry, no. He got caught up at work again," said Emma.

"Of course," Ayda scoffed.

"You'll have to be patient with him. He's been busy at work." Emma put up for her husband.

"I know," said Ayda. "It'd just be nice if we were all here, ya know?"

"Oh, you're such a downer," admonished Jackie.

She grabbed a pinch of popcorn from the bucket on Ayda's lap and popped the kernels into her mouth. Doing so caused Ayda to remember the antics she'd pulled earlier. Swift fingers gathered up the pieces around where her tongue had intruded. She chewed quickly and swallowed.

"I wonder if this will be as good as the original." Jackie changed the subject away from the one she'd brought up. She gestured toward the screen.

"I thought you'd never seen the original," asserted Ayda.

"I haven't," Jackie shook her head, "but I can still think about it."

"You saw the old one, right Emma?" Ayda asked.

"Yes, many moons ago. I wasn't too crazy about it, but it's not really my kind of movie."

"Oh. Sorry for dragging you along, then," apologized Ayda.

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"It's alright. This remake looks much better. I like that Reynolds fellow."

"Sure you do." Jackie waggled an eyebrow at her mother. "You just think he's dreamy."

"He's... very talented," Emma said after a moment.

"Well, I guess we know why Bernard isn't here," Ayda quipped. Jackie had a good giggle at that.

Conversation dried up after that. Jacqueline and Ayda pulled out their phones to keep themselves entertained. The former browsed social media while the latter played a game about running forever through some old temple. Emma, for the most part, remained looking forward at the blank screen, but did turn to her own device a few times.

The trio wasn't condemned to such silence for long. Within a few minutes, the lights dimmed and the previews began. There were times when Ayda enjoyed them more than the actual movie, if only for the guy with the deep voice.

The feature presentation was a fairly standard action film about a plucky police officer with a heart of gold and a distaste for authority. One day—in a series of events that didn't really make sense—his wife was kidnapped. Instead of going to his fellow officers like any sane person would, he decided to take matters into his own hands.

It played out at first like a standard damsel in distress tale, which Ayda rolled her eyes at. The trope itself didn't really bother her, but she'd seen it a thousand times. The main character blasted his way through hundreds of faceless baddies in search of his beloved. Not terrible, per say, but bog standard.

At the climax of the film, it took a turn. The hero found his wife, but instead of kidnapped, she was just fine. In fact, she was a member of the gang. The whole thing was a ploy to get away from him and live a life of crime. Why she didn't think the clearly hotheaded cop would come after her was far beyond Ayda, but she guessed it wouldn't have been much of a movie if things went the wife's way.

The film culminated in a big action set piece which saw the hero take down a whole horde of bad guys and arrest his wife. They had some forced-sounding argument about how he still loved her, but she was a criminal and had to go to jail. There was some message about the greater good in there, but Ayda didn't really care. She just came to watch people get shot.

The Belmont trio departed the theater while the credits were still playing, just as many others did. There was little conversation as they left. Ayda dropped her empty cup in a trashcan in the hallway, but held on to her popcorn. That stuff was like gold, far as she was concerned. It deserved a better fate than to rot in the garbage.

She was the first out the front doors. She waited on the sidewalk for her companions to emerge, which they did within just seconds. Jacqueline knuckled her back while Emma put on her coat as they joined her.

"That was pretty good," remarked Jackie, bending her spine back into a more normal upright position.

"The story was just so-so, but I thought the actions scenes were really well shot," said Ayda.

"Of course that's what you picked up on," Jacqueline said.

"What? Don't tell me you actually watch action movies for the plot," returned Ayda. "It's all about the fights."

"Maybe," Jacqueline nodded, "but a movie needs a good story, too. Otherwise, it's just a waste of time."

"I guess we'll have to agree to disagree."

"How did it compare to the original, Mom?" Jackie moved right from one topic to another.

"It was a lot better," Emma said. "The modern effects helped it a lot."

"Well, at least it's not a complete loss, then," Ayda said.

"Remakes usually suck, but I'll take your word for it," agreed Jackie.

"Is there anywhere else you want to go before we head home?" Emma said, hefting her purse for emphasis.

"No," Jackie said sweetly.

"I can't think of anything," echoed Ayda.

"Let's be off then." Emma turned to her left and began moving along the sidewalk. Her daughters followed suit, chatting from behind her.

…

Ayda sat on the foot of her bed, with the leftover theater popcorn next to her. It was dark out. Most of the light in her room came from the fixtures inside. She hunched over, elbows resting on her knees. A determined look pulled at her face. Her hands clutched a black controller. She tapped buttons at a feverish pace, short bursts interrupted by movements of the sticks.

On the flat screen television across from her, two characters danced about. They stood on a two-dimensional plane constructed with three-dimensional artwork. The only directions they were allowed to move were left, right, up, and down. Beaten and bloody, the two combatants jockeyed for position in a duel of the fates.

Ayda's character, an African-American man with metal arms, jumped up into the air. Her opponent tried to counter, but was too slow. She pushed down a terrible kick with such force it sprung the enemy into the air. Ayda hit the ground just as the other was falling. She ducked into a crouch and uppercut her opponent back skyward. She stood and leveled a quick one-two combo followed by a vicious push kick, all before her target recovered. The blonde woman she was fighting flew across the screen to make hard contact with the ground feet away.

The woman stood and the two combatants shuffled forward. The woman jumped. Ayda attempted to swat her out of the air, but was just a split-second too quick. Her punch passed harmlessly underneath while the woman laid a fist into her skull. The blonde came down and unleashed a hail of blows so quick Ayda could barely keep up with them. The temptation to use her real-life powers for greater perception was strong, but pride wouldn't allow her to on something so unimportant as a video game.

The woman launched into an awkward cartwheel which hit a few times. She followed that up with a few more hits, then ducked down into a handstand. Her ankles wrapped around the midsection of Ayda's character. The blonde lifted the much larger man up off the ground, over her head, and smashed him facedown into the dirt.

Both characters rose to their feet. Ayda took the second where neither could act to survey the battlefield. She was at low health, and her opponent more so. Her character could probably survive another exchange. The other could not. One round each, so this was the final bout. It was time to end things.

The blonde surged forward. Ayda crouched down low to punch the ground. A purple shockwave emanated all around her. The enemy was knocked up. Ayda dashed forward with a quick superman punch. She followed with a quick series of three jabs. Not finished yet, she had her fighter reach out and grab the enemy by the head. A press of a button made it an extra special move. The man pounded his metal fist into the blonde woman's face again and again, each time spraying more blood. One the final hit, the woman went flying. Her health bar depleted.

The woman pushed herself to her feet, but instead of attacking, stood still in a punch-drunken stupor. Ayda ran up close. She input a quick button combo. The screen went dark at the behest of a dramatic music cue. Ayda's character brought his hands back and clapped them together on the woman's ears. Her head squished between the metal appendages, leaving only a stumpy neck to spurt blood. The black man followed up by grabbing both her wrists and placing a boot on her chest. A vicious tug rent free the limbs. The mutilated corpse fell backward. The man held the arms above his head in victory for a moment before slamming them into the ground. He flexed and gave a primal shout. A deep voiced announcer proclaimed his conquest.

"Jax wins. Fatality." Letters dripping blood red spelled out the final word.

"Yes." Ayda whisper shouted through grit teeth. The teenager pumped her fist low, then let out the breath she hadn't been aware of holding. She took a celebratory munch of popcorn. That was one hell of a close fight. The game progressed to a results screen, and she quickly exited the lobby. Even though that was a good match, her heart could only take so much. She really had no interest in fighting that person again.

"I hope I'm not interrupting," said the familiar voice of Jackie from behind her. Ayda twisted around to her with a smile.

"No, I just got done." She shook her head, putting the controller down behind herself.

"Alright." Jacqueline entered the room. She wore her pajamas, a purple tank top with matching plain flannel bottoms, and bare feet.

"What's up," Ayda asked as Jackie stopped at her shoulder.

"I just came to say good night," answered the blonde simply.

"Is it really that late?" Ayda leaned back to look at the alarm clock behind her sister. It was only a few minutes until midnight. "Huh, guess so."

"You should get to bed," instructed Jackie. "You have school tomorrow."

"Okay, Mom," Ayda teased with a smile.

"I can go get her, if you want. I'm sure she'd say the same thing."

"Let's not get hasty," said Ayda. "And don't you have work tomorrow, too?"

Jackie groaned. "Don't remind me."

"At least it's only part-time," Ayda tried to soften the blow. "You won't be stuck at school like me."

"I think I'd rather be in school." Jacqueline said. "Hey, so, I don't remember if I said so earlier, but I had a lot of fun at the movies today."

"So did I," Ayda agreed, "even if the movie kidna sucked."

"Well, I liked it," declared Jackie.

"That's because you have bad taste."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Jackie had a little giggle at her own expense. This was followed immediately by a yawn, which she daintily covered with her fingers. It took all of Ayda's willpower to keep from copying her.

"And you say I should get to bed?"

"Oh, shut up," deflected Jacqueline. "I'm not a night owl like you are."

"Trust me, I know." Ayda rolled her eyes.

She stood up and walked the short distance around the bed to stand before her sister. They embraced in a short hug. Jacqueline laid her head on her sister's shoulder. She gave a satisfied hum at the contact before they separated.

"Don't stay up too late, alright," Jackie said.

"I won't," promised Ayda.

"Okay. Good night."

"Good night, Jackie."

The blonde departed the room, politely closing Ayda's door on her way out. The moment she was gone, Ayda finally allowed herself to yawn. While the expression still wracked her body, she switched off both her television and gaming console. She stretched and moved over to her closet. It had been a good day.