[center][hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/pgnjZnG.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/11gAoSU.png[/img][hr][hider=Song playing in Lupe’s Car: Pensamientos Intrusivos · Kali Uchis][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSdcuNrO9YQ[/youtube][/hider][hr][/center]

The song played loudly in the car.

“... Alright, girls, repeat after me!” Lupe loudly said. “[i]♫ La voz de mi mente te extraña, siempre habla de ti, cómo te amo, pensamientos intrusivos, hoy, ayer, ahorita y mañana, oh, oh, la voz de mi mente cuando despierto! ♫[/i]”

Lisa tried singing along, even though it just came out a jumble of mispronounced Spanish.

[color=e77fbf]"COO-ANDO DES-PERTO!"[/color] Ella very loudly sang, completely incorrectly, and completely missing the other half of the lyrics. It was just… so different from English! And she didn’t know any other languages… aside from a little bit of Japanese.

Saskia, on the other hand, didn’t sing. They intoned the words, perfectly pronounced, but without a single variation in tone. 

[color=e77fbf]"Why can we listen to Spanish songs but not my anime ones?!"[/color] Ella asked.

[color=764820]”Because Lupe’s not a [b][i]weeb.[/i][/b]”[/color] Lupe deviously said.

“C’mon, mami! We can!” Lupe laughed. “Don’t be like that!”

[color=e77fbf]"We can?!"[/color] Ella shouted excitedly. [color=e77fbf]"Can we put on the Sailor Moon opening! Oh-oh- there’s so many songs I want to listen to!"[/color]

[color=DC143C]"If you’re taking requests, how about some heavy metal?"[/color] Saskia asked.

“Oh, God no,” Lupe stuck her tongue out in a fake disgust towards Saskia. “That’s for them…”  She caught herself, and ended up trailing off

She looked at Saskia for a moment.

She was silent.

Lupe pulled out her phone, and as requested, she started playing the Sailor Moon themesong.

[color=764820]”... [i]Awwwwwwwwww![/i]”[/color] Lisa whined, head slumping to the side.

[color=e77fbf]"[i]♫Gomen ne sunao janakute, Yume no naka nara ieru, Shikou kairo wa shooto sunzen,♫[/i]"[/color] Ella started to sing in surprisingly well pronounced Japanese, practically bouncing up and down in her seat. 

[color=DC143C]"It’ll be over in a minute,"[/color] Saskia said quietly to Lisa, reaching over and patting her shoulder. 

[color=e77fbf]"[i]TSUKO NO HIKARI NI MICHIBIKARE, NANDO MO MEGURIAU![/i]”[/color] Ella was now absolutely belting out the lyrics, so loud it was hard to hear the actual music.

Saskia groaned, and held their head. [color=DC143C]"... how long till we get to the mall?"[/color]

Lupe looked down at her phone.

“My GPS says it’ll be like two minutes if we get off at the exit, mami,” Lupe responded.

She drove past the exit.

“... Now it’s [i]fifteen![/i]” 

Lisa grabbed both sides of her face and screamed.

[color=DC143C]"... you did that on purpose,"[/color] Saskia muttered, covering their eyes.

[color=e77fbf]"[i]Anata ni… kubittake… Deatta toki… no natsukashii[/i]”[/color] Ella was starting to get breathless singing so loudly, chest heaving up and down as she continued to sing. But they were over halfway through, she [i]had[/i] to sing the rest!

[color=DC143C]"Maybe I can take a nap,”[/color] Saskia said, closing their eyes.

In the meanwhile, Ella sang the rest of the Sailor Moon song as best she could, regaining her energy for the very last lines. [color=e77fbf]"Thank you… Lupe… Oh, I’m happy to play anything now! I need a break…"[/color] 

“Let’s go back to Kali Uchis!” Lupe laughing, as she changed the song back to the old one as she kept driving. 

Soon enough, they made it to the mall! The [url=https://i.imgur.com/wzDDWcL.jpeg]Desert Oasis[/url], it was somewhat busy, but Lupe parked her car, hopped out and walked towards the mall as she gestured for them to come along. 

“C’mon, mami!” Lupe said as she led them inside, and she looked around, before pivoting on her heel and she excitedly said, “... You three ready for an arrrrrrrrrrrrrrcaaaaaaaaaaaade?!” She laughed.

[color=764820]”[b][i]WOOOOOOOOOOOO![/i][/b]”[/color] Lisa shouted, throwing her hands up into the air.

[color=e77fbf]"[i][b]ARCADE, ARCADE, ARCADE![/b][/i]”[/color] Ella shouted like a little kid. 

“Wait, do ya’ll got any money?” Lupe asked. 

Ella paused midstep, dramatically turning around to stare at Lisa. They’d spent all their totally legally acquired money on phones and clothes and the like! [color=e77fbf]"We don’t but we can… probably get some, right, Lisa?”[/color]

Lisa looked at the ATM by the entrance.

[color=764820]”... We can,”[/color] Lisa deviously said, as she looked at every camera.

[color=DC143C]"I have a dollar,”[/color] Saskia said, pulling a dollar bill out of the pocket of her jeans.

“Maaaaaaaami!” Lupe laughed, “Put that dollar away! If you flash that, they gon’ laugh you out the mall!” She threw her hands in the air, laughing.

[color=764820]”... Hold on,”[/color] Lisa walked over to that ATM, and a swarm of spiders came out of the cracks and crevices of the ceiling and covered every camera that was in sight. Then, when she reached the ATM, more spiders appeared, wrapped in glowing cocoons. They burst out with ant-mandibles before they crawled through the mechanics of the machine, and after some banging and clicking - they came out with [i]dozens[/i] of twenty-dollar bills. Lisa grabbed them and walked back to the group.

[color=764820]”... [i]How’s this?[/i]”[/color] Lisa grinned, presenting the cash to Lupe.

“Oooooooooooooh, maaaaaaaaami!” Lupe stuck out her tongue. “You’re [i]bad.[/i]”

[color=e77fbf]"You’re the best, Lisa!”[/color] Ella shouted, jumping forward and sweeping Lisa up in a bone crushing hug. [color=e77fbf]"Let’s go!”[/color] 

[color=764820]”... My [i]spleen![/i]”[/color] Lisa shouted.

She put Lisa down, but grabbed her hand, and Saskia’s. She then looked at Lupe, frowning thoughtfully. How was she supposed to drag all three of them in if she could only hold onto two of them?

[color=e77fbf]"I don’t have enough hands!”[/color] 

[color=DC143C]"What are we, children?”[/color] Saskia mumbled.

“I’ll just hold mami's hand!” Lupe shouted as she grabbed Saskia’s hand and skipped alongside them before pointing towards a neon-lit place known as the [b][code]Neon Oasis[/code][/b]. “This way, mami! Don’t you want to go to the arcade?!” 

She turned them inside…[hr][center][hider=Arcade Blues - Neon Indian][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bnOy7lEs38[/youtube][/hider][/center][hr]Lupe led them into the [url=https://i.imgur.com/1PNeF19.png]neon-lit arcade[/url], and the neon lights immediately assaulted them, sounds of games being played, and other sounds of games being played. Lupe let go of Saskia’s hand, walked in front of them, put her hands on her hips, and had a wide grin on her face as she said,

“Mamis!” Lupe shouted. “What do you [i]thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiink?![/i]” She said in a sing-song, waving her hands as her accent deepened. Then she leaned forward and said,

“... This is the best arcade in Mirage Springs!” Lupe began. “Oh! Let’s grab some snacks!”

[color=e77fbf]"It’s amazing! Whooooaaaa!!”[/color] Ella shouted as she looked around with wide, excited eyes, squeezing Saskia and Lisa’s hands. [color=e77fbf]"It’s way better than the Arcade back at St Portwell! I haven’t been to once since-”[/color] 

She awkwardly cut herself as she realised when she’d last been to an arcade. When she’d kindled, when her two other friends had been controlled by the Stygian Snake and died. It wasn’t pleasant to think about.

[color=DC143C]"Right, last time I beat you at every game and you started crying,”[/color] Saskia intoned, squeezing Ella’s hand comfortingly. [color=DC143C]"Snacks sound good… ”[/color] 

[color=e77fbf]"Right, snacks! Let’s goooooooo!”[/color] Ella bounced right back, dragging Lisa and Saskia over to the concessions booth. [color=e77fbf]"Oh- oh- do they do hot food?! That’s not really snacks, but I want fries!”[/color]

Lisa looked up at the menu. They had pizza, chicken wings, chicken tenders, nachos, burgers, hot dogs, and what have you. Lisa gave Lupe a devious grin as she said, [color=764820]”No Everclear?”[/color] She began. [color=764820]”[i][b]Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?[/b][/i]”[/color]

“Mami, you actin’ up!” Lupe laughed. “You gon’ be tryna’ to shake ass on top of one of the arcade machines!”

[color=764820]”I don’t know how to!”[/color] Lisa laughed.

[color=DC143C]"You won’t learn if you don’t try,”[/color] Saskia murmured.

“I’ll show you next time!” Lupe said. “For now, let’s grab some snacks, mami, and then we can play Nomadic Odyssey or something!”

Lisa looked between everyone present, [color=764820]”... What do you all want?”[/color]

[color=e77fbf]"Oh, oh, oh, I want a hot dog, chicken wings, fries and a coke! As large as I can get!”[/color] Ella shouted, bouncing from heel to toe excitedly. 

[color=DC143C]"I’ll just have some nachos, and water,”[/color] Saskia intoned. They then looked at Lupe. [color=DC143C]"What’s Nomadic Odyssey? Some new game?”[/color] 

Lisa walked up to order it.

“Oooooh, mami!” Lupe shouted. “It's a new fighting game! It's all the rage! You, uh, probably were dead when it came out…”

She clapped her hands together, “You gotta try it!”

[color=DC143C]”Ohhh… like against each other? I want to play against you, Ella and Lisa are bad losers,”[/color] Saskia said. 

[color=e77fbf]"Hey, no I’m not! I only cried that one time!”[/color] Ella shouted.

Upon hearing her name, Lisa craned her head backward.

[color=764820]”... Think I wouldn’t hear you talkin’ shit?”[/color] Lisa groaned.

“Oooooh, mami is spicy!” Lupe laughed. “But I’ll play you, mami! Don’t cry when you lose!”

Saskia gave Lupe a slight, evil smile. [color=DC143C]"I never cry."[/color]