The cabinet area was becoming rather crowded. On the few occasions Annabelle glanced away from her screen, she could see a group of boys crowded around a BlazBlue console. They're losing, she thought. She kept her eyes on her own game; punching, kicking, and jumping to interrupt the AI's predictable combos, but she could still hear them. The arcade itself had always been noisy, but her proximity to them allowed her to hear their voices above everything else. That, and they were incredibly loud. She could hear them over the sounds of her own cabinet. These young boys obviously weren't the most noble of losers. Young male voices groaned and cursed. She'd seen a girl walk over there too, she remembered. Indeed, every time she looked, Anna saw the female at the controls. She must be the one who's kicking their asses.
Annabelle had nothing against boys, but she couldn't help but smile to herself. It was nice to see another girl dominating the game.
"Damn, this chick's insane!" One of the boys gave up, heading back toward the newer consoles. On her own screen, she delivered a final blow to the animated opponent. The fallen AI screamed as it collapsed in slow motion, background flashing in oranges and yellows which indicated she'd finished with a special move. "Perfect," the screen announced, her own character striking a victory pose. It began loading the next fight, and Anna took this opportunity to look over toward the BlazBlue game again. Sure enough, the same girl was quickly destroying the young man she played against. He moved the joystick frantically, pressing every button on his side of the board. Well, he's screwed. Anna couldn't help but wonder how she'd fare against such an opponent. It would be an interesting battle. Sure, her StreetBrawler skill was unsurpassed, but BlazBlue was a whole different story. It was still a fighting game- something she was decent at, but it's controls had an entirely different feel to them. On the leaderboard for that particular cabinet, Anna was only ranked in the seventh place. Even then, she had to admit that had been a lucky game. As she began her next fight, she found she was actually contemplating joining their little tournament.
But that would involve human interaction. What if they thought she was rude for approaching them? Or what if the girl didn't let her play? It was a ridiculous thought, she knew. Most people she'd observed at the arcade were incredibly friendly, and considering the current situation she doubted the girl would refuse the competition. She looked like the type who would enjoy a good match. Still, the thought of getting up from this station, walking over to that crowd of people, and actually speaking to them was absolutely terrifying. Illogical as they were, her fear kept her bound to the joystick of StreetBrawler Delta 3. Besides, she told herself, she was on her way to a new high score here. She'd go over there when she was done. By then, perhaps the rest of the boys would have abandoned their futile desire to beat that woman. Anna had held the top rank on this machine for as long as she could remember, but today she felt pretty lucky. Maybe if she kept this up, she'd be able to beat her own record. "Perfect", the machine announced again. Yep, it was a definite possibility.
She focused her attention on destroying the next fighter. They were becoming more difficult now. So enraptured was she in the game that she barely noticed the brown-haired man approaching. As she took down a computer-generated martial artist, the man took his place at the cabinet next to her. Third Strike, she knew without glancing away. She knew the layout of the arcade pretty well by now, especially this particular section. The loading screen again gave her enough time to look up. He had noticed her score and nodded, giving her a thumbs up before looking to his own screen. Apparently this guy knew a high score when he saw one. She nodded back, hands starting to sweat. She wasn't used to people acknowledging her existence.
Now that there was someone so close to her, the atmosphere seemed to shift. Her hands continued to sweat and tremble as she played. It was just anxiety, she told herself. He probably wasn't looking at her. But it felt like he was. She locked her eyes on the screen, refusing to let this shake her. She'd played this close to other people before. Not often, but she'd done it. After all, this place got so crowded sometimes, it was impossible to find a lone machine with nobody around. After faltering for a moment, she went back to kicking the computer's butt. “Perfect!” the console declared. She smiled. The numbers in the corner climbed.
Then she heard it again. But this time it didn't come from her game... it was still loading. The announcement came from the cabinet next to her. Anna couldn't help but look over at its screen. The man had chosen Dudley as his combatant. The mustachioed boxer was striking a victory pose. She watched closely as his next match began, boxing gloves jabbed into the ribs of his new opponent. Judging by the movement of the AI, it was also set to a higher difficulty. She returned to her own match, but kept finding herself distracted by the other game. The numbers on his screen were climbing too, not as high as hers, but she'd been here longer. She tried to remember what rank she had obtained on that machine. Second? Third?... Possibly both. She spent so much time here that a couple of the boards were completely filled out with her initials. What had her score been?
Anna didn't play Third Strike as often as Delta 3, but she enjoyed the game. And she definitely knew how it worked. This guy was really good. He's gonna beat me, she thought. She remembered now, her score had been second. But this man was already almost there, and would likely soon surpass it. For some reason , she found herself feeling competitive. Whatever he ended up scoring, she'd beat it when he left.
She punched out another guy on her console, and it launched into the credits. Strange... she hadn't noticed that she was coming to the end of the singe player progression.
“Continue?” It asked. She'd won, so she wouldn't have to pay again. All she needed to do was press the button. But she was having more fun watching these other people play. She let the timer run out, ending the game and revealing that she had indeed beat her own record. “AJW” The letters already came up on the screen. Apparently nobody had played since she'd come in the day before. With the new consoles out front, these old machines were starting to lose their popularity.
But it seemed she was not the only one who still came to them. Judging by the skill of the man at the Third Strike cabinet, and the girl at the BlazBlue one, it was not an entirely dead art. She took a step back, leaning against and unoccupied machine from which she could see both of their screens. She watched not only the screens, but their hands, wondering if perhaps she could learn something from them. Both were doing incredibly well. Video games were awesome, but now it was time for people-watching.
