Aggro 4.18

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

April 16, 2011

5:38 PM

Greg tapped the send button, his lips still curved downwards in a visible frown. The look on his face perfectly matched how he felt on the inside, a perfect mix of sadness and confusion.

It's not like it matters anymore, right. Can't take it back now. He really didn't understand how he could have forgotten about GstringGirl for so long. While he had never met her, let alone even seen her, Greg had known GstringGirl for over a year now. He had recommended shows for her to watch, games for her to play, and…

Hell, they had actually played games together. Granted, it had never been in person but Greg had barely even played games with Sparky, his best friend too much of a filthy casual to play on the level he could. Simply having someone to play with and teach about games had been a lot of fun and Greg couldn't even remember exactly how many afternoons he had spent doing just that with his online friend.

How did I forget about GstringGirl? Seriously, Greg thought with a shake of his head, when was the last time I even messaged her? The blond paused for a moment, gaze flicking back to his phone as his finger quickly scrolled back up to the top of the conversation. His eyes narrowed as he settled on the date of his last message to GstringGirl. March 19th, 2011.

Shit. The blond winced, teeth clicking as he shut his open mouth and thrust his phone back in his pocket. Eyes closed as he let out a sigh, Greg raised a hand to the bridge of his nose and slowly shook his head. It has been about a month, huh?

A month of basically ignoring a friend. Greg winced again at the unpleasant thought, his hands clenched into fists at his side. Fuck that, I didn't just ignore her. I forgot her. That's even worse. How do you just forget a friend, you jerk? Greg continued to chastise himself with a frown on his face, now beginning to fully comprehend what GstringGirl must have felt like.

Unsure of what else to say, the blond simply leaned back against the game once more, letting out a muttered, exasperated, "...goddamnit."

"Trouble in paradise?"

Greg's head snapped to the side, the blonde standing up straight as a familiar easy-going voice hit his ears again. He blinked at the sight of the boy from before, the one that Greg couldn't help but classify as "Bishie Boy" in his head. "No…"

As the corners of his mouth tugged upwards in an odd smirk, Bishie Boy shifted his upper body as he leaned forward slightly. "You sure about that? I saw the look your boyfriend gave you before he ran off."

Greg blinked, mouth working up and down for a few moments as he processed the words the other boy had spoken. He shook his head and finally decided to respond. "...urk."

The pretty boy simply raised an eyebrow.

The blond shook his head, getting his thoughts in order as he tried to respond properly, "B-b-b… boyfriend?" Greg spluttered, finally getting the word out. He raised his hands to his chest, eyes wide as he tried to reconcile the idea. "What? Who?"

"The angry one that just walked off." The pretty boy turned his head slightly, glancing at the rather long concession line currently moving at a pace that a snail would be proud of. One hand met the collar of his white dress shirt, his lithe fingers playing with a button before he continued. "You know? Black hair, olive skin, too much eyeliner."

He's talking about Sparky? Blue eyes widened in confusion, Greg's mouth shifting into a slightly perturbed. Why's he talking about Sparky? We're not like that. After a moment's thought, Greg tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow as he did so. Well, I'm not.

"He doesn't wear eyeliner," Greg replied to the other boy's words, the words the first thing that popped into his head after a rather long moment of silence. Realizing what he said, his face reddened slightly and Greg turned his gaze away.

"Mmmm, I wouldn't have guessed that," the other boy hummed in response, "Still cute though."

"I… I guess," Greg snorted, raising a hand to scratch his face as he did his best to avoid eye contact with the fair-skinned boy. "I wouldn't know. I like gi-uh," Greg paused, knowing all too well that just because someone liked one, it didn't necessarily mean they didn't like the other.

Shaking his head, the blond continued speaking. "… I mean, I don't like… guys, you know." He continued scratching his face nervously, the conversation heading down a path he was not at all prepared for.

"Dude, it's okay. No problem with me." The smirk grew further, Bishie Boy's thin lips gaining an odd quirk to them that came off as more than a little smug. He let out a little laugh, one hand lingering on his collar again. "Little advice, though. If you're trying to keep the boyfriend shit on the down low, I wouldn't recommend touching his face."

Leaning forward, the black-haired teen cupped one hand around his mouth and said in a loud stage whisper, "It gives off the wrong vibe."

"There's no vibe to give off," Greg replied, leaning away from the pretty boy. "I'm not…" Pausing, Greg tried to work his mouth into place to say the what he needed. "I'm not… like that."

"Could have fooled me." There was that smirk again, the sight of it causing Greg to shake his head. "I mean, you look good together, though. Like a yin-yang situation. Moody and angry with sunny and vapid."

Vapid? Unwilling to address the rest of the other boy's statement, Greg shook his head and decided to tackle the least embarrassing part of what was said. "Two things. What makes you think I'm vapid?And two, he's not usually… angry."

"Well, first, you look like a human golden retriever, same dumb smile and everything…"

Greg quickly shut his mouth, shifting his face into what he hoped was a stern frown. He couldn't help but notice the smug look on the face of the teen across from him increase as his own smile faded. Jerk.

"And second, about your friend, he's got a shit-ton of issues." There was another hum from the teen, one hand cupping his chin as he continued. "Trust me, blondie. I know his type."

"Do you?" It was an honest question, really. Greg couldn't really imagine meeting anyone else like Sparky. Acerbic and uncaring his friend might be occasionally, he always meant well and was a pretty nice guy, in his opinion.

Granted, that was Greg's opinion. From what the blond knew, plenty of others would disagree with the more favorable parts of his description.

"Acts bored all the time, likes to tell people to fuck off," The pretty boy let out a soft laugh, before continuing, "dresses like he doesn't care what people think even though it's super important to him…"

"Yeah, I know his type." He paused, shooting Greg a wider smile. "And look at you, lemon head, sticking up for your boyfriend. How cute."

Greg brought a hand to his face in a rather loud face-palm, dragging his fingers down his face as he shot the guy a glare. "Seriously, man, it's not like that. I have a girlfriend," the blond argued back.

Why am I even talking to this guy? Just ignore him, already. Despite what Greg thought, he couldn't bring himself to leave, the teen unable to help but fixate on the idea that someone had the wrong perception of him.

"Juggling a boy and a girl? Look at you, lover boy." The pretty boy seemed to purr the last two words, sending an uncomfortable tingle down Greg's back as he leaned forward. The blond couldn't help but notice how his smile somehow seemed to grow the more Greg squirmed. "I wouldn't have thought you were the type."

"I'm not juggling anything," Greg snapped back, filled with the sudden and unexplainable urge to defend his honor. "We're not dating."

"Not dating. Oh..." The boy smiled, closing his eyes as his face grew vaguely cat-like with it's expression. "I get you now."

Greg shook his head, letting out a slight groan at the look on the boy's face. "I really don't think you do."

"Just experimenting, right?" The pretty boy opened his eyes again, his bored gaze seeming to light up as Greg let out yet another groan, the blond covering his face with his hands as his cheeks began to redden. "Cute."

"Could you please stop?" Greg pleaded.

"Oh, don't be like that. Nothing wrong with a little interest…" the boy bit his lip and gave Greg a wink, "outside the box."

Greg let out yet another groan, his face halfway done with its slow but steady metamorphosis into a tomato. "Dude."

"Nothing wrong for pitching for both teams. Now, the question is…"

"No." Greg stepped forward, doing his best to shake his head sternly even as his face remained flushed from embarrassment. "No, no, no, no. No more questions from you."

"Okay, I was just gonna ask if you were done with the machine but I guess, if you're just gonna be rude..." Pretty boy shot him a look, forcing Greg to sigh and step out of his way.

"Here you go. Time Crisis 4," The blond said with a sigh. "All yours."

The other boy stepped forward, glancing at the screen and both of the controllers in front of him for a few moments. His lips pursing, he shot a look back over at Greg, one eyebrow raised. "You know, it's kinda boring playing this alone."

Greg raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So, help me out with the co-op while you're waiting for your boyfriend to get back. Unless... " He put a hand on one of the light guns, raising the white controller up to his chest with the barrel pointed up. "You don't think you can keep up?"

Just say no. This guy is a total weirdo. Stranger Danger! Greg opened his mouth, pausing for a moment as the brunette held out the black controller to him. Just say no already! Sighing, Greg shrugged his shoulders and gave the other boy a hesitant smile as he took the controller from him. "Sure."

"Nice."

"Fair warning, though," Greg began as the black-haired teen to his right began putting in tokens for the game, his face gaining a smirk of its own. "I'm super good at this game." As the screen began to change, Greg held the gun out in front of him and put both hands on the controller.

Time Crisis 4: Rise of The Goblin King

The other boy rolled his eyes, raising his own controller as the title appeared on the screen. Only one hand on the gun, he brought the other to his face, brushing the hair out of his eyes in a way that Greg couldn't help but feel was practiced. "Whatever, Goldilocks."

Greg frowned slightly, the other boy's casual use of that nickname somehow getting to him. Only Sparky ever calls me that. He paused, his frown shifting to a slightly puzzled look. And, I guess also Sophia, that one time. But mostly Sparky. Glancing back at the boy to his right, Greg gave him a nod that he was pretty sure came off as casual and uninterested. "The name's Greg."

"Alec. No last name," was the even more casual reply, the other teen not even bothering to look back at him as he spoke.

The blond blinked, his eyes narrowing for a moment before his mouth tugged upwards in a smirk, turning to face the screen as well. "Nah, I'm not gonna call you that."

"Oh?" He still didn't bother looking at Greg, both eyes still focused on the loading game in front of them. "Any particular reason why?"

"Cause it sounds pretentious and snooty," Greg replied, still smirking. The expression was more mocking than anything else, but then again, that was the purpose of it. "I'mma call you Snow White instead. 'Cause you'd look right at home dressed like a princess."

He emphasized both syllables of the word princess by cocking his pistol twice, the action allowing him to select his character's on-screen weapon, a bulky, box-like futuristic-looking handgun that looked like each shot should tear off a person's hand. Being one of the most powerful pistols in the game, the simulated recoil in the controller was also increased appropriately. For a regular person, that would have been a problem. For Greg, though…

Man, this is going to be so easy, the blond thought, his smirk widening as the other guy cycled through his own weapon choices before settling on one of the lower-powered guns, a semi-automatic. Hell, I went easy on Sparky, and I actually like him.

"Princess, huh?"

Greg blinked again, Snow White's voice cutting into his thoughts, and he glanced at the other boy out of the corner of his eye.

"If I'm the princess in this equation," A smirk was on the black-haired teen's face as he glanced over at Greg. "Does that make you my Prince Charming then?"

Fighting the urge to let out the most awkward of laughs, Greg shook his head and refocused his gaze back on the screen. "You wish."

Soft laughter was the only reply Greg received to his muttered comment but the blond didn't let himself focus on that, his eyes narrowing as he focused on the cutscene playing out on the screen. Having played this more than a few times before, Greg knew that it was only a few more seconds before the game would begin abruptly, starting with an airdrop into the game developer's vision of Ellisburg.

GAME START

LEVEL 1!

Greg raised his gun and began shooting, picking off several of the airborne enemies that flew up to meet him as his character parachuted into the walled city. The first monster had it's head blown off, the skull exploding into beautifully rendered gore as the monstrous bullet in Greg's virtual gun perforated it's brainpan.

Two shots to the wings of the next one sent it hurtling down, the creature already considered dead in Greg's eyes. The two bullets he had let off winged a third creature behind the now-wingless one, the demonic baddie now a sitting duck for Greg to let out one more shot.

The blond gamer continued to pick off winged baddies this way, casually pausing for a few moments to appreciate how creative the developers had gotten with the idea of Nilbog's creatures. For a few moments, he even found himself wondering if Nilbog would like the idea that he was popular enough to deserve more than one video game made after him. Probably. Someone known as the 'Goblin King' probably has to be pretty full of himself.

Shot after shot, Greg kept taking down the enemies before they could even get close enough to be a problem. Utterly decimating the first two waves of bad guys as his character glided through the air on a parachute, Greg began to pick away at the last wave of demonic monsters, the only frustration being the fact that his gun wasn't quick enough to keep up with him half the time.

Man, reloading takes way too long! Greg couldn't help but grouse, losing valuable time as the reloading animation put bullets in his rectangular revolver one by one. As it ended, Greg couldn't help himself from letting out a sigh. Finally!

Less than thirty seconds later, Greg's character touched down on the ground and shed his parachute in a short cutscene, allowing Greg to get back to the shooting in less than ten seconds.

Gunplay: Handguns Lvl Up!

1→2

Nice! Allowing himself a quick fist-pump at the skill increase, Greg glanced to his right and raised an eyebrow at Alec's progress. "Wow, still in the air, huh?"

The other teen didn't say anything back, still focused on shooting the baddies surrounding him. Unlike Greg, who was quick enough to pick off all the monsters before they could manage to get within range to crowd him or chip away at even a single bit of his health with their projectile spikes or fire breath, Alec wasn't quite that fast.

And, boy was he suffering for it. While health did regenerate in this game, Greg couldn't help but notice that he was pretty deep in the red already and still falling. Might as well help out.

Immediately after taking out some random grouping of identical monsters while taking care to avoid shooting the random civilians that occasionally ran across the screen only to be torn apart by monsters, Greg pointed his gun at Alec's screen and with four pulls of his trigger, took out six of the monsters crowding his co-op partner. "On your left, princess!"

"Hey, I had that!" Alec replied blithely, not much heat at all in the response.

Rolling his eyes, Greg turned his attention back to his screen as some horrible abomination of a pig and a porcupine as well as another creature with a body resembling that of a frog rushed at him on-screen, the whole thing compounded by the fact that the both of them were over six feet tall on all fours. Ugh, I hate this part!

Raising his gun, Greg bit his lip as he kept shooting at the frog-like creature, unable to make headshots like he had before with the screen swaying the way it did as his character ran backwards to keep away from the giant chimeras. Six shots later, neither of the monsters were dead and Greg was faced with the desperate problem of having to reload.

Goddamnit! He thought, teeth gritted as he waited for the animation to hurry the fuck up already! Five seconds is way too long for a reload. What made the situation even worse was that the monsters on screen tended to start moving faster when shots weren't being fired, which meant that now they were gaining ground even faster than before. Son of a- How much health do these guys have? Frickin' mid-bosses!

As the reload finished, Greg quickly let off four more shots into the toad monster's head, the final shot causing an explosion of digital gore. Finally! A smile on his face, he started shooting the other monster, placing several perfect shots into the porcupine-pig's head. Unlike the toad, this one didn't seem to be super-durable and it only took four shots to take the beast down, Greg's heavy pistol doing its job like he expected.

Gunplay: Handguns Lvl Up!

2→3

"You know," Alec spoke up, his voice a slight distraction from the action on the screen, "I was thinking about that friend of yours again."

"Huh?" Greg couldn't help but frown, glancing over at the other teen. "Why?"

Pausing as he shot at several monsters on the screen, his much faster gun taking at least three shots to decimate even the average monster mooks, Alec brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Oh, I don't know. Just thinking about his eyes."

What? Greg whipped his head around to shoot a look at the feminine boy, unsure what he was getting at again. "What?" He couldn't help but say, echoing his thoughts.

"His eyes are pretty enough, right? Amber's a beautiful color." Alec let out a slight laugh, shifting his gun from side to side as he picked off several monsters on the screen, keeping them at bay despite his rather low health. "Don't you think so, lover boy?"

"Not. Gonna. Answer. That." Without even focusing his full attention on the screen, Greg did the same, the monsters falling as he managed to pull off repeated headshots against the slower, predictable mooks. Unsurprisingly, it was getting easier with all the repeated skill increases to Handguns, but then again, it wasn't all that hard to do in the first place.

As Greg moved to pull another on-screen monster's head vanishing with a spray of gore, he couldn't help but notice how his co-op partner kept shooting him odd looks, Alec paying more attention to Greg's side of the screen than his own. Choosing to ignore that, Greg raised the gun again and moved to take yet another shot.

What the hell? Greg blinked, staring at the gun in surprise. The blond switched hands, tossing the controller to his left as he shook his other hand. Why did my hand get all weird? Greg could have sworn that his fingers had felt rather numb for a moment there, most of his hand feeling unresponsive as he tried to pull the trigger. Now, though… his hand seemed fine.

The blond raised the gun with his left hand, only to pause, an annoyed expression crossing his face. And now it's back.

Greg let out an unintended grunt with the thought, his hand trembling like a leaf as he squeezed the trigger. The action was enough to make him miss another on-screen monster and the blonde glanced down at his hand again as he wondered what was going-

"RAAAAAAGGGGGHHHR!"

Greg's head quickly snapped back up, the blond losing his train of thought as a random monster rushed him. Quickly raising his controller, he made to shoot it only for his hand to twitch again, his shot going wild.

Fuck! Greg repressed the urge to curse at the missed shot, the blond letting out an annoyed grunt instead. The monster closed in, the chimeric creature quick enough to shave of a line of his character's health with a swipe of its claws before Greg shot it at close range, tearing it in two. What's going on with my h-

New Ability Gained!

Resistance: Biological Manipulation Lvl 1

Some people like to work with clay, or glass, or wood. Others prefer the mutability of flesh.

Measures your ability to resist any attempt to directly control your physical form, referring to skin, nerves, organs or otherwise. Increases by 2% per level.

Greg blinked, eyes widening at the sudden pop-up. What the actual hell?

Seriously, this didn't make any sense at all. The blond whipped his head around, confused as to what could be happening right now. Was a villain attacking or something? Why here? Why now? Seriously, just why?

The Sun was still out, for God sakes. What kind of weirdo villain chooses an arcade to-

"Problem, sunshine?"

Greg froze, his fingers tightening on his controller as he heard Alec's smug voice. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced over at the other boy, the subtle smugness of the smile on the black-haired boy's face filling him with a sense of dread. Keeping his voice as low as he could manage, Greg let out a whispered, "Observe."

"Alec No-Last-Name" Lvl 19

???

HP: 215/215

A random guy that seems to like messing with you. Has an odd habit of adding sexual jokes into conversation. Likes messing with people in general, not just with his power. Looks vaguely feminine. Also, he plucks his eyebrows, because of course he does. Observe Lvl Up!

9→10

Blue eyes widened, quickly narrowing a moment later as Greg read through the entire thing. ...Motherfucker.

Rather than say anything out loud, the blond bit his lip, shifting his attention back to the screen in a slow, measured attempt to keep his cool. Okay, Greg, keep it calm. Keep it cool. Let's just kick this jerk's ass and walk away like a boss.

Resistance: Biological Manipulation Lvl Up!

1→2

"No problem here," Greg replied, forcing a smile on his face. "Anything wrong with you?"

"Nah. Just noticing that you're pretty good at this."

"Yeah," Greg's smile faded as he focused his attention back on his side of the screen. "I guess." His face set in a determined frown, Greg switched his controller back to his right hand and began to shoot again.

Just like he expected, it started to tremble as he kept shooting, his hand sometimes twitching wildly just before he was about to pull the trigger. Doing his best to ignore it, Greg held on to the pistol with both hands to keep his arm as steady as he could and began to thin down the horde of chimeric monsters approaching him.

Resistance: Biological Manipulation Lvl Up!

2→3

Son of a- Casting quick glances at the boy to his right as his aim kept shifting, lowering his overall accuracy score, Greg couldn't help but appreciate the fact that he was still ahead of Alec in both points earned and progress throughout the level. Try and cheat and still end up losing? Lame.

He brought his attention back to his screen as the ground around his character's feet began to rumble ominously. Now, Greg thought, the blond reloading his gun despite still having four shots left, time for the first boss.

The first level of Time Crisis 4 was the shortest in general, lacking a lot of the more frustratingly hard aspects of the later levels like the rooftop run-and-guns or riding on top of monsters while fighting. However, what this level lacked in gimmicks, it made up for it in sheer, unmitigated awesome by having the most insane boss in the entire game.

Just as Greg had expected, broken asphalt exploded like a geyser as a huge, brown-furred paw burst from the ground, claws digging into the surrounding asphalt and finding purchase. A moment later, that paw was followed by the rest of the creature as it leapt up out of the hole it had created in the street with an ease that did not match it's impressive bulk.

The bloody mess of a creature roared and spread out one disproportionately large and furry arm to the side while a much smaller, but still rather well-muscled, human arm curled up into a fist. On top of this mess of fur, blood, and bulging veins, sat a grotesquely pink head, half of it lacking skin and the other half just too covered in blood to make out. Overall, the monster looked… well, it looked like a mix between a brown bear, a hairy pig, and an overweight Caucasian man.

Greg raised his gun again, noting with a raised eyebrow that his hand didn't seem to be trembling anymore, and smirked. Let's do this.

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o – CONGRATULATIONS!

Time Crisis 4: Rise of The Goblin King

LEVEL 1 COMPLETE!

TIME: 13'21"49

SCORE: 129450

ACCURACY: 78%

PLAYER 1: WIN! Resistance: Biological Manipulation Lvl Up!

4→5

Gunplay: Handguns Lvl Up!

5→6

Greg put his controller down, carefully putting the gun in its holster as he turned around to face his cheating co-op partner. The boy in question was in the middle of putting down his own controller as well, or would have been if he had been careful enough to replace the gun-shaped object.

Rather than place his controller back on it's stand, Alec lazily tossed it onto the machine and let the device fall to the floor, attached to the game itself by a wire. Turning to face Greg, the brunette smiled. "Nice job, blondie. You are pretty good at this."

Blue eyes narrowed as Greg let out an atonal hum. That settles it. I hate this guy. Folding his arms over his chest, the blond smiled back at Alec. "Yeah, I know." Greg tilted his head, his smile slowly fading as he paused for a moment. "I'd probably be even better if someone had stopped trying to cheat."

"Yeah." Alec nodded slowly, a closed-mouth smile still present on his face. "Seems like that could fuck up a day, right?" The brunette clicked his tongue as he made to turn around, obviously trying to walk away, "Be seeing you."

I think the fuck not. "First of all," Greg began under his breath, taking several quick steps forward to block the other boy's path, "there's cheating and then there's cheating with powers."

The other boy blinked in Greg's face, appearing unfazed by the accusation. "Your point?"

Greg blinked as he continued to whisper, unsure if Alec even heard him. "What do you mean, your point? You used your power to try and make me lose."

Greg's eyes narrowed even further, the blond growing annoyed as the parahuman across from him simply responded with a disaffected shrug. "And? I didn't give you shit for using your powers."

What? The blond flinched hard, jerking away from the bored-looking boy. Forcing his face into a calm expression, Greg shook his head and tried to change the subject. "I… I don't know what you're talking about. You're the cape here, not me."

"Come on, man," Alec responded blithely, crossing his arms over his chest. "Let's be honest. You're a shit liar." He raised an eyebrow, thin lips rising into a smirk. "I mean almost every time you pulled the trigger, it was a headshot. Come on, no one's that good."

Was I that obvious? Greg flinched again at the thought, realizing that he may have been a bit too good. "I d-don't… Fuck."

"Don't be mad," Alec said with another shrug. The brunette turned around again and began walking away from Greg. Glancing over his shoulder, the pretty boy waved back at Greg. "You cheat, I cheat; It's all fair in the end, right?"

The blond just watched as the other teen calmly walked away, hands in his pockets, leaving Greg alone with his thoughts and nothing else.

Nothing else but all this burning rage. Greg tilted his head to the side, raising an eyebrow. Well, it's less burning rage and more unending annoyance but still….

The fact that some cape could tell he had powers just like that was just ridiculous. Greg was sure he didn't even do anything crazy. Wait… Greg paused, thinking back to how he had played. I guess I did take out a lot of bad guys without even looking at the screen. Was I really aim-botting this whole time?

He blinked in surprise, gritting his teeth a moment later. "...Double fuck." Am I that bad at keeping my powers a secret? It's been like a month and some rando already figured it out. Greg shook his head quickly, a thought about that rando suddenly coming to the forefront of his mind. Forget about that. Who even was that guy? No way he was a Ward, right? There's no Masters on the Wards and no way would a Ward use their powers on someone else like that.

The blond took in a quick breath as another thought hit him. He's a villain! Oh my God, that guy's Regent! How did I not think about that before? Greg's blue eyes widened in surprise a moment later, the blond coming to another realization. Oh my God, Regent is a villain! Does that mean…

"Yo, Veder!"

Greg jumped slightly, letting out a slight squeal as Sparky's voice sounded out from right behind him, reaching his ears above the din of the loud arcade sound. The blond spun around, slapping a smile on his face as he spotted his best friend making his way over to him with an armful of snacks and drink, Mexican pastries included. My churros!

"Dude, stop staring like a goldfish and help me with this shit!"

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –

"So…" Greg paused to take a bite of his churro, following up that same bite with a bit of funnel cake and a swig of lemonade.

Sparky glanced up from his bacon nachos, raising an eyebrow as he wiped away cheesy crumb remnants from his mouth. "So what?"

The two sat across from each other, the two friends occupying one of the more comfortable tables in the arcade as they ate their greasy overpriced junk food. Sparky may have gone a little overboard with the money Greg gave him but to be honest, impulse control was never his strong suit in the first place. He wasn't as bad as the blond sitting in front of him, but then again, that was just damning with faint praise.

"Well," Greg clicked his tongue, tilting his head from side to side for a moment, "I might have some big news to share."

Now, Greg had Sparky's attention in full, the olive-skinned teen pushing away both his nachos and his drink. "I was gone like fifteen minutes. How big could the news be?"

"One sec." Greg paused to take one rather long sip of his lemonade, pulling deeply from the oversized monster of a cup. In all honestly, the thing was nearly wider than his head.

Two seconds later, Greg was still drinking, leaving Sparky to roll his eyes at another of his friend's oddities. "G."

"..."

Five seconds after that, Sparky was getting obviously ticked off and Greg was peacefully drinking from a seemingly endless cup.

"Greg."

The boy in question held up a single finger as he continued that same long sip, finally coming to a close a few seconds after that. As he smacked his lips with a satisfied sigh, Greg let out a rather loud burp, the sound managing to draw the attention of several laughing middle-schoolers.

"Man, breath holding sure comes in handy, huh?" Greg said, a smile on his face. "I should really work on that skill some more."

"Greg!" Sparky hissed, leaning forward.

The blond jumped slightly, blinking owlishly for a moment before he remembered the flow of conversation. "Oh, yeah. The news."

Sparky just rolled his eyes and made a gesture with his hand that clearly said "get on with it."

"Okay," Greg took a breath, "I made an arch-nemesis."

There was silence between the two of them for a long moment, leaving the air filled with the sound of laughing children and the loud beeps and dings of arcade games.

"What?" Sparky blinked rapidly, obviously stunned. "What?"

"I. Made. An. Arch-nemesis," Greg repeated slowly, each word seeming to make Sparky wince.

"I… I… don't…" He blinked again, looking down at his nachos before looking back up in confusion. "...while I was gone?"

"Yep."

Sparky continued to stare, his mouth falling open in what was obviously surprise. "How?"

Greg shrugged, the teen pursing his lips as he did so. "I dunno. He kept hitting on me though, so that was weird."

Sparky's eyes widened like dinner plates, the last bit of information pulling him partly out of his stunned daze. "He?"

"Yep." As Sparky shook his head in confusion, Greg decided to take this moment to bring up something else that had been on his mind for a short while.

Seeing no better time to get it over with, he decided to simply blurt it out. Cocking his head to the side, he wore a puzzled expression as he asked "By the way, do I look like a golden retriever?"

– o – o – o – o – o – o – o –