Chapter 21: The Humiliation of Twilight

The crowd in the arcade is silent.

They are all staring. Staring at me, and staring at the tall, smirking jerk in the hoodie.

"1v1," he says again, his voice way too calm. "I win, I get your number."

My hands are shaking.

Not from fear. From rage.

This guy- this stranger- is not only hogging my machine, he's challenging me. In my territory.

"You," I say, my voice dangerously low. "Are going to regret that."

I slam my school bag on the floor.

I step up to the Player 2 side.

My fingers land on the joystick and buttons. It’s the sticky 'Heavy Punch' button.

Ugh. I hate this cabinet.

"Pick your character, 'Twilight'," he murmurs.

I don't even hesitate. I pick Akira, my main. The fast, high-combo, high-risk character.

He picks Zangis. The grappler. The slow, tanky, stupid character.

He's mocking me.

"Round 1. FIGHT!" the game screen flashes.

I dash in. I am aggressive.

I go for a low-kick-to-fireball combo.

He blocks it.

He doesn't just block it. He perfect-parries it.

What?

My eyes widen. A perfect parry on that combo? That's frame-perfect.

He just stands there. He doesn't even attack.

He just walks back and forth. Taunting me.

"Are you gonna fight?" I hiss, my pride stinging.

"I am," he says, his eyes half-lidded, still staring at the screen. "Just... waiting."

"For what?"

I dash in again. I go for an overhead-kick mix-up.

He ducks.

And in that one-tenth of a second, he hits his combo.

It's the grappler combo. The Spinning Piledriver.

My character is grabbed, flipped, and slammed into the virtual pavement.

A third of my health bar.

Gone.

In one move.

"You-!"

I panic. I start throwing fireballs. Spamming.

He just walks through them. Zangis has a special move that ignores projectiles.

He knew I would do that!

He grabs me again.

Slam.

Another third of my health.

I am reeling. I am desperate.

I have a tiny sliver of health left.

I jump. I go for a 'Hail Mary' dive-kick.

He just stands there.

And uppercuts me.

K.O.

I... I lost.

I lost Round 1.

I didn't just lose. I didn't even land a single hit.

The crowd is whispering.

"Holy... he destroyed her..."

"Is that 'Twilight' from our school?"

"Yeah, I thought she was a god at this game..."

My face is burning.

"Lucky," I growl. "You got lucky."

"Uh-huh," he smirks.

"Round 2. FIGHT!"

I am not playing my game anymore. I am playing his.

I am patient.

I wait. I block.

He also waits.

We are just standing there. For ten seconds.

The crowd is confused.

"This is boring," someone whispers.

"No, idiot," another voice says. "This is high-level. They're testing each other's patience."

Fine.

I move. Just a tiny inch.

He moves.

I knew it. He's a counter-puncher.

He wants me to attack.

"You're good," I admit, my teeth gritted.

"I'm bored," he replies. "Are you gonna do something?"

That... JERK!

My "Bloody Twilight" rage explodes.

I abandon all strategy.

I go berserk.

I throw everything at him. Kicks, punches, specials, supers.

My fingers are a blur.

And he...

He blocks.

He blocks everything.

He weaves, he ducks, he parries.

It's like he can see my moves before I even do them.

He is reading my mind.

My super meter is gone.

My character is exhausted.

And his is untouched.

He smirks.

"My turn," he whispers.

He walks slowly toward my cornered, panting character.

He doesn't grab me.

He pokes me.

With a low-kick.

Tap.

He pokes me again.

Tap.

He is disrespecting me.

He is chipping me to death.

With the weakest move in the game.

"STOP IT!" I yell, actually yelling.

I mash the sticky Heavy Punch button.

It sticks.

My character misses.

And he grabs me.

The Ultimate Spinning Piledriver.

The screen explodes.

K.O.

PERFECT.

He got another perfect.

Against me.

I...

I just stand there.

My hands are frozen on the controls.

I lost.

My 45-win streak record.

My reputation.

My pride.

Is shattered.

The crowd is silent.

They are awed.

The hoodie guy just stretches. He yawns.

Like it was nothing.

"Well," he says, his voice lazy. "A deal's a deal."

He pulls out his phone.

He holds it out to me.

"Number, please. 'Twilight-chan'."

I have never been so humiliated.

In my entire life.