MGP Episode 1: Glowing Surprise! Monster Attacks the Arcade!

Robert and Cory opened up the door, stepping out of the sun’s rays and into the air conditioned arcade, Loose Change. They rubbed their eyes as they adjusted to the soft, familiar, artificial light. After doing so they scanned the front desk for their friend and roommate, Eli.

They quickly found Eli in his work-issued blue t-shirt. He was leaning on the counter and staring almost irately at a group of middle school boys. As they approached, Robert greeted their buddy. “Hey Eli.”

Cory fired off a jaunty salute. “’Sup? Slow day or something?”

Eli sighed. “Hey guys. Not slow, just boring. These little, annoying middle schoolers have been playing and replaying that same game all morning and afternoon!”

Rob and Cory turned to inspect the group Eli was talking about. They were all standing around an enclosed game. From the looks of it the game was probably some kind of first-person shooter. But it was odd in that you couldn’t see into it at all. Rob had never seen a game like there where you couldn’t observe what has going on from the outside. “What is that game?”

Eli dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “Called Zombie Mansion or something. It’s a new game we got this week. Haven’t played it. Rail shooters aren’t really my kind of game anyway.”

Cory stuck his tongue out. “Bleh! House of the Dead ripoff.”

Rob raised an eyebrow. “And they’ve been playing all day?”

Eli nodded. “Yup. About seven of them started in the morning and the group has only grown.”

“Haven’t they run out of quarters?”

“Some have. Whenever one of them runs out of quarters they just stand by the machine and stare at it. It’s really creepy.”

Cory nodded his head. “Almost like crack addicts.”

Eli and Rob stared at Cory for a few seconds. Eli shook his head. “Anyway, they’re ruining my girl-watching.”

“What?”

Eli shrugged. “Well that DDR girl came in-”

Rob smirked. “The attractive, quiet one you’re afraid to talk to?”

“Hey, shut up. I’m just biding my time. Anyway, she came in and started stompin’ the pad like she normally does. But she was all distracted by those weirdos. She only danced for one song, observed the middle schoolers a little longer, then she got creeped out or something and left. They’ve ruined it!”

Cory chuckled. “Dude, one could argue that if you wanted to sit around and watch babes all day, you should be- oh, a lifeguard or something. Y’know, something other than an arcade attendant!”

Eli sighed. “I didn’t say girl-watching is ALL I want to do. The DDR girl is just one of the usual benefits of my job that I’ve been deprived of today.” He then glanced down at his feet. “Besides- I can’t swim”

“You can’t?”

Cory laughed. “What? You never got around to it?”

Eli rolled his eyes. “Thanks for the sympathy guys.”

Cory yawned. “Sympathy is something you get for a broken arm, not for missing a skill set.”

Rob laughed. “Yeah, if that were the case we’d have to always feel sorry for Cory’s lack of skills at anything social.”

Cory scoffed. “Hey, I have plenty of social skills! I just reserve them for special occasions, so as not to wear them out.”

It was Eli’s turn to scoff. “More like a fine wine that is in desperately needs to age.”

Cory and Eli started verbally sparring. As they did Robert started watching the herd of boys around the Zombie Mansion game. Eli was right, they were all either in line or just staring at the machine like it was a fish bowl. Judging by the shortness of the line there weren’t too many people left with quarters. But beyond the odd behavior of the kids

Eli decided the banter had ceased to be fun and turned the conversation to more mundane matters. “Anyway, what’s up? You guys finally going to turn in that horde of tickets you’ve been building up for the past month? I think you can get that football clock by now.”

Cory smiled. “Phooey on the football clock, I say. I’m saving up for the BMW.”

Robert shrugged. “I’d just settle for a lava lamp.”

Eli shook his head. “Why do I hang out with you two?”

“Whatever. You know you like it.”

Eli gave a thumb-down to Robert’s comment. “If one of you were suddenly hot and presumably single and marginally attracted to me, I might enjoy it.”

Cory had gotten distracted by the wall filled with rather mediocre prizes. “You guys really need to get better prizes, man. For as much money as I’ve sunk into Gauntlet Legends I deserve something.”

Robert decided his input was necessary. “Dude, Gauntlet Legends sucks.”

“Shut up. You suck.”

“Nice zinger.”

Eli, ignoring their increasingly intelligent debate, frowned at the impressively cheap arcade prize spread. “Hey, I just work here. I don’t decide what junk will be a prize.”

Robert shrugged. “Right. If you did select prizes they would be something much cooler- like cinnamon rolls!”

Cory licked his lips. “Mmm. Delicious, delicious victory. Yes, victory would truly be sweet if you did that.”

Eli sighed. “If it were up to me it would be more like gift certificates to the mall or something.”

Robert nodded his head. “You can get cinnamon rolls at the mall. I support it.”

As they chatted one of the boys peeled away from the group and trudged over to the counter. As he approached they noticed he didn’t look good. They had seen gamers who looked like they needed some sun but this kid looked unhealthy pale. Each lethargic step he took only enforced the image of sickness.

Cory chuckled under his breath. “Ah, now here is a classic case of irony. Spend all day in a dark room killing zombies and you end up looking like one yourself.”

The kid put his hands on the counter and gave a pleading look to Eli. “I’m- I’m out of tokens.”

Eli blinked and looked down at the kid. “Is the machine out? I can do change up here if it’s broken.”

The kid shook his head. “No… I’m out of money… can… can I have tokens… I know you have spare ones back there.”

Eli glanced at his friends before looking back at the kid. “Uh… yeah, I do. They’re for in case the machine runs out. Sorry kid but if you’re out of money I can’t help you.”

One of the kid’s eyes started twitching. “But… tokens… need… Zombie Mansion… muffins… the lady…”

Robert raised an eyebrow. “Kid, you okay? You need to get a drink of water or something?”

Eli leaned in closer to the kid. “Uh, look buddy- maybe you should head home.”

The kid’s shoulders sagged and he trudged back to the pack of quarter-less middle schoolers who stared at the machine. All three blinked until Cory spoke, “Jeez, Eli. Does the FDA know about this game?”

“What the hell was that?”

Robert observed the kid who returned to the group. He seemed to be talking to the other kids who would occasionally send glances of greedy intent at Eli. “Anyone getting nervous at the looks those kids are shooting us?”

Cory shrugged. “Nah, they’re quite clearly staring at Eli.”

Eli shrugged. “I’m not worried. I keep a loaded baseball bat back here.”

Cory chuckled. “And how exactly do you keep a baseball bat loaded?”

“It’s a joke, moron. And come on, you think I don’t get begged for tokens every day I’m here?”

Robert shook his head. “By zombie kids?”

“Tooookens! Toooookens!”

Eli ignored Cory once more. “That one was a bit more wide-eyed than I’m used to but lots of kids get zoned out here. Kind of the point of the arcade, right?”

Cory began inspecting the kids like Robert. “Sure. Say that now. But when everything’s gone all Night of the Living Dead and we’re fighting off token zombies with cricket bats, I reserve the right to say ‘told ya’.”

Robert began walking towards the now very short line of kids at the Zombie Mansion game. Eli asked, “You’re not going to play that game, are you Rob?”

He shrugged. “I’m just getting a weird vibe from the game. Like- it’s hard to explain. I wanna check it out to at least see why these kids are all weird about it.”

Cory nodded his head and began walking off in a different direction. “Excellent idea. While you’re doing that I’m going to play some Marvel vs. SNK. Scream if swarmed by the token zombies.”

Robert grabbed Cory’s shoulder as he walked off. “No, you’re coming with me. It’s a two player game.”

“Awww.”

Eli chuckled. “Yeah Cory, do something useful for once.”

Cory shot Eli a glance. “Hmph. Just see if I patronize this establishment ever again.”

Robert shook his head. “Who are you kidding? Where else would we go to waste time?”

Cory winked. “Hey, I just said that he’d see if I would. And he will.” Eli just rolled his eyes, still within earshot.

As they approached the game, the two observed that it wasn’t just the kid who approached the counter who was pale- it was all of them! Not only that, their movements were very lethargic, like they had just come off of a sugar rush. “Huh. Well, too much time in an arcade’ll do that to ya. Brains must have rotted away. Heavens knows Eli’s have been gone for years.”

From the counter Eli responded. “I heard that. Don’t deny it, but heard it.”

“I don’t know Cory. This doesn’t appear to be anything like just simple vegging out.” Robert and Cory only had one pair of kids in front of them in line. They had a dazed excitement in their nearly vacant eyes. Robert tapped on of them on the shoulder. “Excuse me, what’s this game like?”

The two turned around with vapid smiles on their faces. “Zombie Mansion.”

Cory sighed. “Yes, that’s understood. That being the name of the game. Anything a little less titular?”

The two middle school kids just gave him a confused stare.

Eli glanced up from the gaming magazine he was now reading. “Cory, they’re middle school kids. They don’t know that word, doofus.”

“Ah, yes good point. Titular. Adjective. To do with the title.”

“Zombie Mansion.”

Cory’s eye twitched. “Yes, we know that THAT. Zombie mansion. A mansion. Includes zombies. We figured that part out. Do you have any other information for us?”

“Lady… energy… quarters…” A pair of kids tumbled out of the enclosed game looking absolutely drained but were smiling despite their obvious languidness. The two who had been mumbling inanities to Cory excitedly but slowly stumbled into Zombie Mansion’s booth.

Cory grunted. “That lack of communication is breaking apart families Rob. The kids don’t even talk to us anymore.”

“I actually prefer it when the kids don’t talk to us.”

“Never mind.”

“We sure do live a glamorous life.”

“Get up. Go to class. Floss. Laugh-a-minute I tells ya.”

Eli shouted himself into the conversation. “You call this glamorous?”

Robert shouted back. “No, I call it sarcasm.”

Eli pointed at Cory. “Sarcasm is his job. I can’t ignore both of you.”

Cory added his two cents. “Speak for yourself. I just don’t share my glamour with you two. That’s your problem.”

The pack of quarterless children seemed to be growing annoyed by the cross arcade shouting.

“Zombie Mountain.”

“Quiet for the lady.”

“Quarters.”

“Kitchen.”

“The energy.”

Robert bit his bottom lip. “Ooookay.”

Cory was a bit confused as well. “Well that couldn’t have made much less sense.”

After spending a few more moments waiting in line and avoiding eye contact with the vegged out kids it was the pair’s turn to go into the game. As they stepped into the machine Eli gave one last shout. “Have fun you two.”

Robert lifted the curtain and carefully stepped in. “Yeah, fun.” It was unnaturally dark in the booth. No light was coming from the screen or outside. The only things that could be seen were the quarter slots and the guns for the game. Robert reached into his pocket for a quarter.

Cory stepped past him and sat down in the second player seat. “Hmm. Mood lighting. I give it a five out of ten.”

Robert’s heart began racing. He could sense something was wrong. “I don’t like this.” He slowed down his breathing and tried to calm his nerves. “Okay, if something weird happens or we start feeling zombie like we’ll get out. All right?”

Cory was apparently not having the feeling of dread Robert was. He casually shoved a quarter into a quarter slot. “Dude, I’d be a vegan zombie. Graaaains!”

Robert decided he must be overreacting. He too put a quarter in and sighed. “Where did you steal that joke from from?”

Cory ignored him and picked up the gun. “Yippee-ki-yay.”

`As Robert picked up his gun the screen lit up. The text “Zombie Mansion” popped up. After a few creepy sounds played the face of a blue woman appeared on the screen. It startled Robert with how incredibly realistic it looked. It actually appeared like she was really there. “Hello my children.” Robert was impressed by how crystal clear her voice was. It sounded like it had been spoken by a real person.

Cory didn’t seem as impressed. “Alright, alright. Let’s skip the cutscenes here. Plot is not important in these games.” As he spoke, a pair of polygonal hands seemed to reach out of the screen. They both thought nothing of it until the hand caressed their cheeks. “Great- shades of Tron but I’d think they… woah! Now this is a different wrinkle!”

Her hands began glowing a faint green. “Give me your energy. I will let you play as you do.” Cory began to feel exhausted. “Yes… give it to me.”

As Cory was drooping, Robert sat straight up. As her hands glowed he felt her trying to take something from him. What happened next was purely instinct- like grabbing someone’s hand who was trying to reach into your pocket. Robert blocked the blue woman from taking his energy. That’s when his forehead started to glow blue.

The woman on the screen seemed quite shocked to be receiving no energy from Robert. She gave him a dirty look and tried harder to drain him. Finding that ineffective, she let go of Cory and grabbed Robert’s face with both of her hands. “Insolent boy! Give me your energy. Do not defy Polygal!”

With the woman’s hand no longer on Cory, he felt his usual energy and sarcasm return. “Polygal? Seriously? What a crappy character name.” He glanced over at Robert and saw that there was some kind of picture glowing on his forehead. It was apparent he was still a bit off-kilter from being drained when he opened his mouth again. “Dude, you’re glowin’ blue.”

Robert was struggling to get the woman’s hand off of him and as such didn’t hear what his friend was saying. He had more pressing concerns. “Cory! It’s real! Get’r off of me!”

“Huh?” Cory snapped back to so-called reality. He grabbed onto one of the woman’s rectangular arms and tried to pull her off of Robert. He shouted out to Eli for help. “ELI! PULL THE PLUG! THE GAME IS TRYING TO KILL US!”

Eli looked up from his magazine at the game. Nothing seemed wrong from the outside. And seeing as it was a zombie game it would make sense that the game would be trying to kill them. But Cory had sounded uncharacteristically serious and the token zombie boys were looking to each other with worried looks. Figuring something must be up he got off his stool and walked towards the game.

Still unable to pull any energy from Robert, the video game woman grew very frustrated. “Give me your energy! Why do you resist me? How do you resist Polygal?”

As the two teenagers continued to struggle, they could feel energy building up in the behind the screen the woman was coming out of. Neither one of them was comfortable with the blue glow the screen was being enveloped by. “Let me go!”

“That can’t be good.”

The woman let out a scream and the entire Zombie Mansion booth exploded. But insead of shattering into pieces of circuitry and plastic, it splintered off into green bits of ethereal light. Eli jumped back. “What the?” The light entered all the middle school boys and color immediately returned to their skin. They all started sitting up and groaning.

Robert and Cory were expelled from the game and dumped on the ground in front of Eli. Robert staggered to his feet with a moan. “That was no game.” The symbol on his head was now glowing an even brighter blue.

Cory landed on his feet at first but his momentum rolled him end over end until his posterior was flat on the ground. “That was the weirdest Easter egg I’ve ever seen.”

Eli meanwhile was focused on something else. “What the hell happened in there!? You guys destroyed the game!” He looked back up at where the game had been. His eyes bugged out at what now stood there.

At first glance it was an attractive blue-skinned woman in the nude. But upon closer inspection, she seemed to be some kind of woman fused with an arcade machine. A translucent screen ran across her chest. Various buttons and joysticks protruded from her shoulders and upper arms. Her eyes were covered by a thin VR visor. A ticket dispenser was mounted on the palm of each hand. Across her stomach were two quarter slots. Eli gulped. “I- I take it she is the Easter egg?”

As the kids she had drained came to their senses the too noticed the fuming video game woman. They all panicked and ran out of the arcade screaming. As Cory caught a glimpse of the woman he exclaimed, “What in the name of Jill Valentine?!”

Eli slowly moved himself back behind the counter to grab his bat. “Something tells me she ain’t Jill Valentine.”

The video game woman scowled at Robert and approached him. “You defied Polygal! How?”

Cory tried to stifle his laughter but he couldn’t. “Polygal? You really call yourself that?”

Her scowl moved to Cory. She aimed her left ticket dispenser palm at him. “TICKET SNARE!”

Out of Polygal’s palm shot out a stream of tickets. They wrapped around Cory and lifted him off the ground like he was nothing. “Urk… I mean… uh… catchy.”

The ticket stream tossed him aside like a rag doll right at Eli who had just grabbed the bat. “Omph!” The two crumpled into a pile behind the counter as she set her sights back onto her original target.

While she had been busy with his friends, Robert had gotten up and charged at her. Unfortunately she was more than skilled enough to deal with his feeble attempt to tackle her. “TICKET SNARE!” Out of both palms whipped out stream of tickets.

They encased Robert’s chest and arms. He let out grunt as they tightened around him like a boa constricter. Polygal lifted him into the air and the tickets began to glow the same faint green that she had used inside the booth. “You WILL give me your energy, little boy.”

The symbol on Robert’s head burned even brighter. The glow quickly spread around his entire body until he was shining a blue aura everywhere. This only further frustrated Polygal. “Who are you, little boy? How is it I cannot take your energy from you like I have the others.” Robert continued to struggle, ignoring her questions. “Very well. If you will not give me your energy then I will take it from you piece by piece.”

The tickets constricted further, making Robert feel like he was going to pop like a balloon. Eli and Cory untangled from each other. “Ouch… you have a thick head.”

“As if you’re the one to talk.” Eli gripped the counter and pulled himself up. That’s when they both saw their buddy glowing. For once, Cory was struck speechless. Eli rubbed the bruise on his forehead. “I- I think he’s- or you knocked my head harder than I thought.”

A streak of gold pierced through the tickets. “WHAT!?” Robert tumbled to the ground, coughing for air. The glow around his body faded quickly but the symbol on his forehead continued shining. Polygal, along with everyone else in the room turned to see where the bolt had come from.

Nobody was prepared for what they saw at the entrance of Loose Change. Four girls dressed in cheerleading outfits of varying colors stood at the entrance. Each one was absolutely stunning to be sure but their beauty wasn’t just the simple beauty that one lusted after. Their beauty was angelic and even awe-inspiring.

Well, except Eli wasn’t attracted to the one in red that much. He wasn’t sure why because he knew she was attractive.

The one at the front held her pom-poms at her hips. Her blonde hair swayed behind her purple cheerleading outfit. She pointed one of her pompoms at the Polygal. “Stop right there villainess!”

Cory’s mouth dropped to the floor. “It’s the cheerleader girls from the news!”

Eli was too busy staring to make a witty rejoinder. The purple one continued her speech. “How dare you attack the unwitting people of this city?”

Eli frowned. “We’re unwitting?”

The one dressed in yellow was just as tall as the one in purple. Her blue hair came down to her shoulders. Instead of pompoms she held a bow in one hand, the other obviously having been holding the golden bolt of energy that had freed Robert earlier. “You turn the joy that should be a person’s recreation and turn it into a nightmare! I am Spirit Guard Charity and will not stand for such evil to continue to lurk within these walls!”

The cheerleader dressed in pink as she clapped her pompoms together. With a flash, they morphed into an elaborate staff. Laughing, she flicked the pink tips of her black hair out of her face. “I am Spirit Guard Felicity and I like, can’t allow you to take away people’s joy!”

The girl dressed in the red uniform was much taller than the other girls, easily standing almost 5’9”. Her brown ponytail swayed as she too clapped her pompoms together. With another flash they morphed into an oversized buster sword that no human should have been able to wield. She blew a bang out of her vision. “I am Spirit Guard Fortitude. You best prepare to taste six feet of cold, sharp ‘game over’.”

Lastly the girl in purple clapped her pompoms together. In her left hand formed a shield while in her other she gripped a sword. She twirled the sword gracefully and pirouetted before continuing her speech. “And I am Spirit Guard Valor! Together we are the Spirit Guard and your actions will be stopped, minion of Platicore!”

Cory turned to Eli and mouthed the word “platicore” to him. Eli just shrugged and continued to watch the show.

Polygal rubbed her temples in frustration. “I can’t believe it. He told me they would monologue- and they did! Platicor was right.”

Cory shrugged. “Wow, for once I agree with the blue chick. I can hardly believe this myself.”

Eli sighed. “You know, the cheerleaders have weapons, that Polygal thing threw you effortlessly with tickets, Rob is glowing, and I have a baseball bat. Maybe you shouldn’t be making wisecracks.”

“I’m armed with my sharp wit.”

“Shut up man! I have a feeling this is going to get messy.”

Valor winked. “In the name of love, truth, happiness, and righteousness we will-“

Robert finally freed himself from the tangle of tickets. “Just shut up and kill the thing!”

Spirit Guard Valor in purple winced at the interruption. She stomped her foot and pouted at Robert. “You just ruined our intro, you ingrate! We’re the heroines here! We know what we’re doi…” She trailed off when she saw the image glowing on Robert’s forehead. All the Spirit Guard momentarily stared at Robert and lowered their weapons some. “What the muffin?”

“QUARTER JAM!” Polygal took the moment of distraction to go on the offensive. High velocity quarters spewed out of the coin returns on her stomach. Valor fortunately responded quick enough to get behind her shield and deflect the blast.

The guys responded just as quickly. Eli and Cory ducked behind the counter, just keeping their eyes just above so they could watch the action. “I told you things would get messy!”

Rob ripped apart his ticket bonds and sprinted to the counter. Jumping, he slid across the top and got behind the counter and assumed the same position as his buddies. “What the deuce is going on here?”

Cory didn’t take his eye away from the chaos. “You’re the guy who’s glowing blue. You tell us.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?” Unaware that he had been shining, the symbol on his head faded from view. The conversation was curtailed by further excitement.

“Spirit Guard! Scatter! Felicity, with me!” Fortitude and Charity split off to the sides. Shield out in front, Valor charged with Felicity in tow. The quarters harmlessly fell to the ground. Polygal edged backwards as she got closer. Valor decided it was time to strike. “Now Felicity!”

Felicity jumped in the air and twirled her staff. She giggled as it glowed a hot pink. “Flames of Happiness!” Pink fireballs flew at the video game monster.

Cory backed up a little. “I don’t want to see her ecstatic.” His tone changed considerably when Polygal dodged the attack, leaving the fireballs in their direction. “Oh crap!”

“Not good!”

“Very not good!”

With no time to react the three thought they were done for sure. Luckily, Spirit Guard Charity dashed in front of them, holding her bow above her. “Altruistic Barrier!” The flames hit an invisible wall only one foot in front of the yellow clad cheerleader warrior. As soon as all the flames fizzled out, Charity pulled her bow in front of her. Pulling back on the string, a golden bolt of energy appeared in her hand.

“QUARTER JAM!” Another spray of quarters sailed at Charity and the boys.

“Generous Arrow!” Charity let her arrow fly right into the stream of quarters, cutting through the speeding coins like a hot knife through butter.

Polygal narrowly missed being tagged by the arrow. She held her hand out for another attack. “TICKET SNARE!”

“Generosity be damned! Kill the woman!”

As if to answer Cory’s request, Spirit Guard Fortitude charged from the side with her buster sword raised. With a confident stroke, she swung the blade downward. As she did, red lightning wrapped around the blade. “Intrepid Blade!”

Polygal tried to move, she was already too late. The sword sliced through her torso. She screamed as the lightning around the sword wrapped itself around her, frying her body into ashes.

All three of the guys had their eyes wide open. As they sat up Cory broke the silence. “Now that was cool! A solid ten out of ten for special effects.”

Eli chuckled. “Nine out of ten for style. Minus one point for poor exposition.”

Robert said nothing. He carefully observed the Spirit Guard come off the adrenaline of battle. Valor sighed and her sword and shield reverted back into pompoms. As she spoke her pompoms disappeared completely. “No evil stands a chance against the Spirit Guard.”

The other magical girls did the same as Valor. All except for Fortitude they seemingly didn’t even notice Eli and Cory’s conversation. “Yeah, definitely a negative three out of ten for dialogue.”

Eli nodded his head and grinned. “But speaking as a leg man, a solid twenty out of ten for the outfits!”

Fortitude smirked and strode in their direction. They both took notice and instantly stiffened up. “Er- thanks for the save! Fortitude was it?” She leaned in very close to Eli’s face. He stepped back from her menacing stare and wicked grin. “Eh- did I say something wrong?”

Cory also took a step back, but tried to deflect some attention from his friend. “No, no. I’m sure everything you said was accurate.”

She leaned her head back and laughed. “You two might want to be a little quieter when the people you’re talking about are within earshot of you.” The both gave a nervous chuckle as she turned to face Robert.

It wasn’t just her, all the girls were looking Robert up and down. Feeling a little uncomfortable under their collective stare he took a step back. “What?”

Eli turned to Cory and whispered, “Why they staring at Rob?”

Cory shrugged. “Maybe they’re checkin’ him out… what? Just sayin’?”

Valor stepped forward, flicking some stray strands of blonde back into place. “Are you going to be attending the Peavy Academy?”

Robert squinted his eyes. How had she known? “Yeah. ”

“What’s your name?”

Robert cocked his head to the side. He could tell something was going on besides a normal conversation. “Robert. Robert Dirken.”

She nodded her head then glanced over at the other girls. They all had a confused yet understanding look in their eyes. Valor then turned back to Robert and gave a departing wave. “Be safe. Remember that the darkness of evil cannot exist in the light of justice and love.”

Fortitude pointed at Eli and Cory. “You two try and stay out of trouble.”

Felicity giggled and walked to the door backwards. “Sorry about almost frying you guys! My bad!”

Charity was the last to leave. She nervously stood in front of Eli. “My sincerest apolgies about the mess. We tried to limit the collateral damage but- well… we can only do so much. I hope this does not cause too much trouble.” With a quick bow she shuffled out after the other three members of the Spirit Guard.

Eli and Cory closely watched their backsides as they left. Once Charity was out the door Cory turned to his buddies. “That was freaking awesome!”

Robert shook his head. “What the hell was that all about?”

Eli sighed as he observed the arcade. Nearly every game had some kind of dent in it from stray quarters. A few of the unlucky machines had quarters lodged in their screens. There were scorch marks on the carpet from stray fireballs. He was not looking forward to explaining this one. “Um- my arcade just got decimated by a crazy video game woman and a group of magical cheerleaders saved our butts. I think it’s quitting time.”

As the sound of sirens could be heard in the distance, Cory grimaced. “I don’t think it’s quitting time just yet, my friend. Look on the bright side- there are thousands of quarters here. Those will probably pay for the damages.” He began collecting a few and putting them in his pocket.

Robert showed no signs of listening or caring about their conversation. His mind was elsewhere. “Why were they staring at me like that?”

Eli grabbed the broom and began cleaning what he could. “Uh, maybe because you were glowing?”

“Was what now?”

Cory paused from his quarter hoarding to reply. “Yeah. It happened with that ‘Polygal’ touched us when we were inside the game. As soon as she started grabbing you, some weird, glowing, blue image appeared on your noggin. After we got blasted out and she wrapped you up with her ticket whip thing your entire body started glowing blue- gotta say it was kinda weird.”

Eli dumped a pile of quarters into a plastic bag. “Really? I saw his body glow but I didn’t see anything glowing on his head specifically.”

Robert stood up and approached Robert. “The image on my head. What was it an image of?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? You were the one who saw it!”

“Calm down, man! I’m not really sure what it was. Some kind of abstract art lookin’ thing.”

“What did it look like?”

“I don’t know- like a circle with a dot in the middle- and kind of connected with another circle.”

“Can you draw it?”

Cory shrugged. “I can try.”

Eli handed Cory a pad of paper and a pen from one of the drawers. “Why were you glowing in the first place, Rob?”

Robert shook his head. “I have no clue. But if something was glowing on my head in particular I’d like to know what it was. Maybe it would shed some light on why I was glowing in the first place.”

Eli shrugged. “Maybe it’s just a side-effect of that woman doing her magic thing to you?”

“Cory didn’t glow when she tried to suck energy from him though.”

Finished with his picture, Cory slid the pad of paper to Robert. “There you go. That’s kind of what it looked like.”

Robert squinted at the picture. “What is it?”

Cory rolled his eyes. “It’s an ancient demonic rune used by the lost civilization of Babylon. How am I supposed to know?”

Eli moved to Robert’s side to get a look at it. “Maybe it’s a symbol of some kind.”

“I’ve never seen a symbol like that.”

Cory’s pockets were now full of quarters. He started to wish he brought his backpack. “If it is a symbol of some kind it probably has some kind of meaning to it. Maybe we could look it up on the internet or something.”

Eli scoffed. “Oh yeah, brilliant idea. We’ll just hit the hotkey to shove the symbol into Google’s search bar. Or better yet, we could just run a search on ‘weird symbols that use circles and dots.’ I’m sure that’ll work really well.”

Robert grinned. “Hmm, circles and dots? Maybe it’s the symbol for a cootie shot then.”

As the cop cars and ambulance showed up, Eli just shook his head. “You’re a moron.”

All right! First chapter done! Whew! This was much longer than I thought it would be. I loved how it turned out though!
A VERY big thanks goes out to Pip, Duck, Frost, and Odin who have helped me out with brainstorming. Frost and Odin should really get a big thanks because I got most of the Cory and Eli dialogue from RPing the scene with them. I think it really lent itself to fun conversation.
Bonus points to whoever can figure out who the school they go to is named after!
For those who are new, my email address is taralynnand@gmail.com. Can’t wait to hear what you thought!