#a few days ago got on the ddr machine for the first time in ages and played some classics

[lokh]

surely i could play ddr the day after a big tattoo

[nyrator]

and so ends another birthday week with Kresnaaa

by week I mean ten days, but it was a good ten days

full of DDR, EDF 4.1, Ghost Stories, red square pizza, guitar serenading, and plenty of good times

godddd so much to remember

Well for starters Kresna’s amazing of course and continues to prove it

This trip had several ongoing stories it feels like, but let’s see...

had to work my normal schedule most of the week unfortunately for us, but we still did a lot with the time we were given- he even came to visit during lunches and made me lunches and nyaaaaaa

HE ALSO MADE ME THOSE LOVELY MY MELO PANCAKES... unfortunately they tasted like rubber because the ingredients in my apartment are garbage BUT STILL MY MELO PANCAKESSS (I made the one on the left with the mouth rip)

in terms of food I’ve eaten, let’s see... risotto was the big one (rice again AND mushrooms, mannn), also these soft baked protein bars or something, they be neat. Also more eggs, asparagus, kiwi, wing bites (aka my first exposure to chicken, though technically the second time we’ve had wing bites), and french toast for the first time~

ALSO FUJI APPLE BUNNIES... apple bunniess... also fuji apples are probably my favorite apples I’ve discovered so I should probably use them to try eating more apples

We also went for pizza a lot at our usual place (good ol’ Nina’s red square pizza), we were stuffed every time but it’s the only good pizza there is. Also one last ice cream trip for the season before they closeddd

But yes, enough about food for now~

One of the main events was our classic DDR routine- andddd the machine has just broken on our first visit there, ripppppppp-

BUT WAIT. The owner of the place walks out and tells us it’s out of order, and Kresna’s like, man, I can probably hook you up with ways to fix this, I know people who own these machines, and we got into talking a lot- this dude takes really good care of his machines, it was a really nice experience. Just for wanting to help, he gave us both a few free passes for laser tag (the main attraction of the place) and Kresna and him kept in touch.

And of course, Kresna, being the genius that he is, manages to find out the problem. And we go in the next day, talk with him, inspect the innards of the machine, talk more about solutions and stuff, Kresna sends him some other CDs for the machine to see if it’d work, and sure enough, on Friday, my birthday, it’s fixed- and even better, since Kresna told him how to unlock the secret songs and everything in the cabinet.

So dance a lot we did this weekend~ First night we didn’t see the owner, but the next (after he unlocked the songs), he gave us basically 20 free plays (each two rounds), plus one of his employees who loves DDR gave us a free play as well (and he also invited me to and destroyed me in a round, dude goes hard without a bar), really really nice people. On our last visit the owner tries to give us more quarters for more free plays and we’re like “stop, stop, we’re still trying to spend the ones you gave us!”

And now I feel obligated to go to this DDR place more because man, would like to support this place more (and y’know get good at DDR beyond a level 4-5 intensity song). And it’s great, since right before we first visited, we were just talking about making connections with people and getting our own DDR cabinet (which we shall, someday, once we have a stable place togetherrr)

In terms of DDR, we also set up my dancepad and played some Max~ My first song pick was Sandstorm once Kresna pointed it out and I regretted it instantly, I think I might have jeopardized our relationship because of it

We also went to another Round One- this time in Middletown NY, good times. I think I preferred the one in Exton a bit more, but man, gooodd times. It had Music Gungun 2 and that’s all I need (ALSO IT HAS TWISTER FROM TWEWY...) Got a high score with it and I feel proud of us

(would also totally be down with owning a Music Gungun someday)

Kresna meanwhile is still impressive at IIDX, also speaking of games that had TWEWY music

not the greatest game but hey FF music (of which Kresna is great at playing on guitar by the way, his FF2 Town theme is so gooddd). Also played more of that one Gunslinger Stratos game, this time a functional one- went through the tutorial and it seems neat, all the crazy gun combinations and stuff, but it feels a bit like Dissidia NT which is just painful for me to think about that game.

also as you can see above, Kresna won us Kirbyssss

so we both decided to have one try at the machine, and I failed, and then Kresna tried and won the laying Kirby first try for meee- Then before we left, we decided to use our last credits to win him one, and together (mostly him) we won the standing Kirbyyy- both are staying with me at the moment but they are our Kirbys (and I need to play more Kirby games- only played the first two Dream Lands and Adventure, and a bit of Dream Course)

good kirby (with a beautiful orange sunset my phone can never capture properly)

as for my birthday itself it was nicee

I had to work of course but Kresna brought me that cake and it was lovely and goodddd

a random customer came though and took the piece we were giving to my coworker and that was very... odd, but okay, enjoy it, random lady.

he also decorated my room as seen a bit above (also admire aforementioned guitar that plays aforementioned Town theme very well)

I also got him a little something~

He also got me a nice shelf which I need to fill up so I can take nice pictures with it, as well as coat hangers and other nice things, but nya~

We also as mentioned played a lot of EDF 4.1 again (this time, more Inferno missions/DLCs) and boy, who hurt you, DLC 2 pack maker. We grind, but not a super lot, and mannn those glowy flying red drones are death. We got to the last DLC 2 mission before calling it quits, but I might do solo grindinggg

Also, in honor of this spooky month, we decided to watch a classic, one he’s seen before ages ago- Ghost Stories dubbed. Mannnnnnn. It’s definitely not something that’d fly in today’s environment, but man is it so good. Both of us were completely out of character with our language from quoting it and general jokes inspired by it (I myself have been letting my language slip lately and as someone who dislikes specifically myself swearing and making crude humor it’s nyehhhh), but man, what a show. The f-bombs, the insulting every possible thing with extreme prejudice- it’s almost refreshing, y’know? Being able to appreciate the humor in that kind of stuff from time to time while knowing it’s just doing it for comedy and not maliciousness, it’s very cathartic. 

overall a great birthday and good times and he will be misseddd, until next timeee

oh yeah did I mention he stole my phone for a bit and changed my wallpaper early this visit

I don’t know much about Detroit but the man loves his boys and so I left it on all week for him

tried changing his in retaliation and failed and he finally gave me the chance and immediately regretted it when I gave him an image of the Worst Girl (TM) as his wallpaper

I am still amazed he’s still with me to be honest, but he is a good

[theareya]

do the even numbers for the vg ask binch

BINCH

Video Game Asks!

2. A game that has influenced you creatively? Writing, drawing, etc.answered!

4. Who do you play with now?Who? Like my friends? Mostly the same people I played with when I was a kid, but now they’ve grown up into ripe gaming fruits. And some new friends who I met through love of video games  *stares directly into camera*

6. Ever buy strategy guides?No. I’d rather spend money on the game itself. I see the pretty art books often and wonder though…

8. Rarest/Most expensive game in your collection?uH. What? Rarest? I don’t have any of those classic games that are worth a fortune now. Most expensive was probably the Dishonored 2 bundle that I bought because I wanted Corvo’s mask super bad

10. Ever go to a midnight game release or stand in line for hours?

I have not! I usually pre-order using the internet and try to distract myself until I can feel the game with my fingers

12. Ever get picked on for liking games?Wheeeen I was younger, yes. I stopped playing for a little while, even though I was not any good at the time anyway. I didn’t pick it back up again until the middle of high school when I stopped caring.

14. Favorite game music?I… really like the Journey and Undertale Soundtrack. However, Kingdom Hearts and Nier: a tomato have been my… main music go-tos .In fact, I’m listening to the Nier ost right now.

16. Favorite game to play with your friends IRL?Answered!

18. Would you date someone that hates gaming?No. Bitch. Worst-case scenario they “tolerate” it. Just kidding, NO that’s impossible. Worst case is they’re indifferent. And in that case, they’d have to be pretty darn spectacular. Like they own Disneyland spectacular. Trust me. 

20. Game that you know like the back of your hand?BIOSHOCK. I can tell you where every audio diary is. And every ridiculous jump scare. I also could say the same about Nier, but that’s a little too recent, so the obsession is still fresh.

22. Do you wear game related clothing/accessories?I have a Fallout t-shirt, Kingdom Hearts Sweater, some lovely Nier pins, and a 2B phone charm accessory. I love game merch, I just am a bit picky on which ones I wear.

24. First Pokemon game?It was actually Yellow. I never got Red and/or Blue.

26. Ever form any gaming rivalries?I don’t like those, but literally Pokemon Go sets them up by making you pick teams and publicly fight the other teams down.

28. Ever play in a tournament?nOpe I’m not that good. I watch a lot of tournaments though.

30. How many consoles do you own?Uhh, since forever? I would say 8. However, the only active ones right now are my ps4 and Switch. Everything else is stored away in the closet or was given away.

32. Did you ever play a game based on your favorite show/cartoon/movie/comic?Not. Really. No. I don’t really love those. One time I got Narnia as a gift and cried at how bad it was. And then there was Shrek Party?? Which was a depressing version of Mario party, but with Shrek characters. I liked it… actually. If it were done well, maybe?  

34. Do either of your parents play video games?My mother plays pokemon go and is level 40, which is higher than me. And it’s kind of made her more open to the idea of playing video games. But my mom knows the basics of certain video games enough to not get mad at me when I tell her I can’t pause. 

36. Have you ever shed actual blood, sweat or tears over a game?I have cried over a few video games. Not full on crying, but my eyes will water and that’s pretty wild. Sweat is all over my controllers. I clutch them so hard. I was also very emotionally compromised over The Last of Us, but it was mostly internal.

oHH! One time I was playing Battleborn and got a nosebleed, but I’m pretty sure that was on account of the weather and not the game. 

38. A game you’re ashamed to admit that you like?I have no shame at all whatsoever in any game that I like. I guess Fable, 2 and 3 were absolutely awful according to everyone, but I thought they were alright, mostly because it made me think of the first game.

40. What to you think of virtual reality headsets or motion controls?I think they’re fun! But am sad that they probably won’t be able to reach their full potential in my house.

42. Maybe it wasn’t your first game, but what was the game that started you on your path to nerdiness?…Bioshock tbh. That was the first game I legitimately played after stopping gaming for an awfully long time. The one that started it all. Kingdom Hearts and Bioshock. Two completely different games. 

44. Arcade machine that has consumed the most of your quarters?I never really played arcade games? Soul Calibur? DDR??

46. Do you like relaxing games like Animal Crossing or Harvest Moon?YES THOSE ARE LIKE MY FAVORITE TYPES OF GAMES!!??!? I can seduce Harvest Moon characters all the ding dang day. And I can fish for hours. Fishing mechanics are vital in every game. 

48. How long does it take your to customize your player character?84 years. In all honestly, it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour depending on the options that are available. Dragon Age took so… so long. Basically any game with the objective of making your character look cooler is… dEATH

50. If you were a game designer, what masterpiece would you create?Answered!

52. A game that you begged your parents for as a kid?Pokemon Y

54. Do you give in to Steam sales?I use my friend’s steam and he has like 2000 dollars worth of games, so I’d say he definitely does.

56. Did you ever play Roller Coaster Tycoon and kill off your guests?I never played that game, but I remember quality video compilations of that.

58. If you can only play 3 games for the rest of your life, which ones do you pick?Answered!

60. Do you know the Konami Code?It’s like a bunch of directional buttons, but idk which ones.

62. Ever buy a console specifically to play one game?I bought a gosh darn PS3 like 10 years ago because I thought KH3 was going to come out for that. Now here with are the PS4 pro and KH3 will be out in a year.

64. Ever make a TV or monitor purchase based on what would be best for gaming?I have! Or I mean it was a family TV anyways, but I sneakily snuck in a question or two about gaming quality and the guy hooked me up.

66. Did you ever have have an old Nokia with Snake on it?No. I didn’t have a legit cellphone until after high school.

68. Ever save up a ton of tickets in an arcade to get something cool?LOL no I’m so bad at those, I spend all my tickets immediately on the dumbest thing I can find like those finger traps.

70. Very first game you ever beat? I want to say Fable. As a kid I didn’t know what a memory card was and sort of assumed you had to start over every single time.

[aj22writes]

Chapter three...

...is where things finally get started. We get an idea of how diverse the abilities granted by Sol can be, and how important it is, in this world, not to underestimate people who aren’t physically impressive.

Fun fact: The characters in this, and even some of the scenarios, are based on another story that I worked on for years. In that story, and in this one, Jen is the biggest badass of all time. Just fyi.

Chapter Three

The Exhibition Match

After a few days to rest and prepare themselves as best they could for a long fight, Jo, Jen, Sara and Tucker met up at Jo’s house, and then made their way by bus to the nearby towne center. Across from the spacious mall, that was the focal point of the area, was a building nearly half as large. It had been under construction for almost a year, and had been dubbed the Megadojo, a place for Sol fighters from all over the area to come together and train together and have Heart to Hearts without any risk to themselves and others. Jo often thought of it as the Sol equivalent of one of those corporate super gyms.

While the idea behind it was a good one, after the first month beyond the grand opening, the place was going to charge membership fees to anyone who took classes there. Jo didn’t like the idea of corporatizing Sol that way. She had much the same attitude toward Sol as her mother did, that Sol was a form of self-expression before anything else. After all, the form of a person’s Sol when it awakens always takes a form meaningful to the person. She was worried that, as the Megadojo’s spread across the country, it would lead to a generation of fighters with no individuality or personal pride.

As the four Dueling Hearts approached the front of the huge red brick building, and the massive sliding doors dead center of the facade, the others began to mirror Jo’s train of thought.

“You know,” Jen said, placing her hands firmly on her hips, “I like the idea of everyone who wants one having a place to train, aside from that nasty park, but I’m not really sure that I like how the management here is going about it.”

She put her hands behind her back, as the lacy skirt that she wore over her black yoga pants didn’t have pockets, and assessed the place critically. Between the skirt and the loose mesh shirt that she wore over her black sports bra, Jo, not for the first time, admired how her cousin could preserve her goth style, and still dress in a way that didn’t impede her ability to fight.

“I’m with ya there,” Sara, wearing another of her yellow jerseys, agreed, frowning up at the word “Megadojo”, with a grand opening banner hanging from it. “The name alone is almost too stupid for me to take this place seriously.”

“I love it!” Tucker exclaimed, grinning excitedly. His eyes darted between the building itself and the crowd forming in front of it, awaiting the grand opening ceremony. He wore the same tank and shorts as he had been wearing at the park. Looking at her, you might think that Jo was wearing the same clothing as she had that day as well, just in a different combination. She wore a pair of sweats that were very similar to the black sweats that she had worn in her fight against Keith, and an identical white t-shirt to the one that she’d put on later after getting home. Like Jen, she’d chosen to come wearing something that represented her own personal style, if you could call it that. She wore the same old and worn overshirt that she’d worn that evening to training. She was about to chime in with her own thoughts regarding the place, when she noticed that a group of men were in the process of wheeling a podium in front of the entrance.

“Shh,” she told the others, “something’s about to happen.”

A stout man in a too-small suit, with a balding head and bushy mustache, stepped up behind the podium. He cleared his throat into his microphone, and what conversation was still going on in the Megadojo’s lot died down immediately. The man began to speak, and while he sounded kindly enough, Jo detected the air of pretentiousness in the tone of the guy’s voice.

“Welcome one and all,” the man began, “to the grand opening of the country’s first Megadojo, brought to you by the Prometheus Corporation. Ever since the discovery of Sol thirty years ago, fighters from all around the world have been developing their skills and competing against each other. These Heart to Heart competitions have changed the world, expanding the lives of all who participate. And yet such competitions are dangerous, and many potential warriors always thought that unlocking the powers of their Sols was too risky a dream.

“Here, at the Megadojo, and at all similar installations soon to be opening nationwide, we hope to change that. We will offer simple to follow training in martial arts guaranteed to get real results in anyone who puts in the time, and our patented, and supervised, state of the art Heart to Heart arenas help to make Heart to Heart’s safer.

“To celebrate the grand opening,” the man continued, “the Megadojo has decided to host an exhibition match to demonstrate our new technology, and to demonstrate the kind of exciting competition that one can expect to see here every day. It will be a teams match between a team created by a local fighter, chosen by sweepstakes, and regional champions Team Beatdown!”

There was applause throughout the crowd at the utterance of the name Team Beatdown.

“They didn’t mentions us by name,” Sara complained.

“I thought you didn’t like the name Dueling Hearts,” Jo chided. Sara harrumphed and refused to meet her sister’s gaze.

Jo, chuckling, began to look around. She’d been looking forward to this, a chance to test herself against a professional team of real Sol fighters. She didn’t really follow Team Beatdown, buts she recognized them when she saw them. They were standing about twenty-five feet away, also watching the stout man’s speech. All four were male. One was tall and gangly, much like Tucker, with hair like Hugh Jackman in those X-Men movies. He had a permanent arrogant smirk marring his face. The second and third members were about Jo’s height, maybe a couple inches taller. One of them had dark hair, and a slimmer physique than Jo would have expected. The other had medium-length blonde hair, and seemed pretty unassuming.

It was the fourth member, however, who really caught Jo’s eye. Jo did recognize this guy from fights that she’d seen. He was Christopher Johnson, a guy about Jo’s age who grew up not too far away. He was a fighting genius, who used his Sol to create a near-perfect defense in battle. In a way, Jo’s secret technique had been created specifically to give her a chance of getting inside this guy’s guard. Even considering her new technique, though, Jo got the distinct sense that she would not be able to defeat Christopher Johnson. That no one on her team could. That Team Dueling Hearts had no option other than to lose.

At the thought of fighting someone so out of her league, Jo couldn’t help but smile.

That’s when the crowd started pouring into the large building that housed the Megadojo. Jo had been so fixated on sizing up the competition that she’d missed the rest of the grand opening presentation. Oh well, she thought, that dude wasn’t saying anything interesting anyway.

She was about to join the rest of the crowd and head inside, when she felt attention being directed toward her. She looked in the direction of the brief, but almost tangible, sensation, and locked eyes with Christopher Johnson. The pro was sizing Jo up in turn. Jo smiled again, put her hands casually in her sweats pockets, and walked away. This match was going to be one to remember.

The inside of the Megadojo was even more lavish and impressive than the Dueling Hearts had expected. Tucker was enamored with the place, grinning like an idiot at everything. Jen and Sara looked over everything with involuntary nods. Even Jo was starting to appreciate the place just a little bit. The interior was essentially one huge room. Mats were set up at intervals across the spacious floor, with enough room for groups of people five wide to walk between them. There were seats and a food court near the back right of the room, workout equipment lining the walls, and smack dab in the middle of the back half of the room was a raised arena large enough for probably six people to fight at once. Three bleachers four rows high surrounded three of the arena’s four sides.

“Look at these machines over here,” Tucker said, excitedly, pointing out a row of DDR-like platforms along the left wall. “I think they measure your Sol’s energy!”

“I’ve heard of those,” Jen told him. “They’re all over the place in Japan. But they don’t really work.”

Tucker pouted, but his friends ignored him. All around them, people were spreading out and investigating the amenities that the Megadojo had to offer, or simply heading to the back of the room to take their seats and wait for the exhibition match to begin. Jo scanned the crowd, and she saw Team Beatdown already standing beside the arena, waiting.

“Come on,” Jo told the other Dueling Hearts, “we have a fight to take part in.”

She started walking toward the back of the room, through the crowd. The others kept pace with her.

“So what exactly are our chances of winning this thing,” Sara asked her sister as they walked.

Jo looked again at the seemingly unimposing Christopher Johnson, and once again, despite the young man’s almost average appearance, she got the sense that her team had no option but to lose.

“About zero percent,” Jo answered.

Sara frowned, “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

They arrived at the arena, just as the same stout man from outside stepped up next to the arena, between the two waiting teams. He had a microphone in his hand. A quick announcement and a few minutes passed, and the crowd on the Megadojo floor had cleared, filing into and filling the seats. Suddenly more than a hundred eyes were on the Dueling Hearts, and they weren’t sure how to feel about it.

“For those who do not know the rules of team Heart to Hearts,” the stout man began, “allow me to explain them to you now. Not all Heart to Hearts are fought with teams, or even one on one, but these are the rules for this particular form of competition. Each team must decide ahead of time what order they will send their warriors in to fight, and then make that order official by taking their places in boxes marked on the floor in each team’s area, numbered one through four.”

He gestured to an area on the floor near Jo’s feet. Jo nodded to the others. They’d gone over their fighting order several times since agreeing to compete. Jen stepped inside the box numbered one, Tucker stepped into the box numbered two, Sara into the box numbered three, and Jo into the final box marked with a four.

“Each team,” the stout man continued, “will send one fighter into the arena at a time. The fights will occur one on one, and will continue until one fighter is either knocked from the arena, remains down for a count of ten seconds, or surrenders. The winner will remain to fight the next in line on the opposing team. Things will continue in this manner until all fighters on one side have been defeated.”

His tone grew momentarily grave, “Obviously, attacking with lethal force, or with the apparent intention to permanently maim the opposing fighter, will not be allowed, and will result in disqualification of both yourself, and the rest of your team. I will be acting as referee to ensure that this rule is upheld.”

Then, suddenly, the man’s voice became cheery again, “To ensure the safety of our wonderful spectators, a new technology has been employed in the construction of this particular arena. In a regular Heart to Heart, energy from the participants Sols charges the area, alerting other fighters that they should stay clear until the matter is settled. The Megadojo’s patented arena will harness that energy once the fighting begins to create a barrier between the arena and the rest of the room so that no stray Sol energy can escape.”

The crowd of spectators murmured their approval of this, and even Jo found herself impressed. The stout man waited for the murmuring to die down, and then he continued yet again.

“Now,” he said, finally, “if the first fighter from each team would please step up onto the arena, we will begin the match right away.”

Jen walked calmly and deliberately forward, climbing a short set of stairs the four feet to the arena floor. Her opponent, the tallest member of Team Beatdown, leaped up into the arena, ignoring the stairs completely. The two walked toward each other, until they were both standing in the center of the arena, only about six feet apart. Jen took up a stance that kept her arms tight to her body, but her legs wide. Her opponent just cracked his knuckles and grinned wildly. Lights descended from the ceiling above each of the arena’s four corners, pointing in toward the impending action.

The floor beneath both teams, and the stout man, rose up until it was level with the arena itself, and the stout man declared, “Jen of Team Dueling Hearts versus James of Team Beatdown! Let the Heart to Heart begin.”

Jen was the first to make her move. She moved quickly to her left, circling James. He turned to follow her movements, but just as he did, Jen’s feet were wrapped in a soft purple glow, and she vanished completely from her opponent’s field of vision. The crowd gasped, and some spectators even cheered. James looked surprised. His eyes darted around, trying to locate Jen before she could blind side him with a surprise attack. He didn’t find her, but he did get a glimpse of where the spectators were looking: just above his head.

He looked up quickly, just in time to see Jen dropping toward him, her right foot outstretched. James lunged forward, and rolled, avoiding Jen’s drop kick by a hair. He sprung back to his feet and turned, expecting to see Jen fall hard, and hopefully fail to recover, hurting herself, but to his surprise, she fell to the floor far too softly. James was again surprised, before realization hit him.

He laughed, “Oh, I see, you’re already using Sol right out of the gate. Let me guess, you can make yourself lighter, right?”

He was satisfied to see begrudging agreement on his opponent’s face, and he laughed again, “That’s pretty good, but if you have to use Sol this early just to give yourself a shot, then you really aren’t cut out for a match at this level. I was able to dodge your best move without cranking up my Sol at all. Wanna see what happens when I do?”

His sneer returned, and static ran up and down his entire body. His muscles twitched, and they bulged. His body expanded until he was fifty percent larger than he’d already been. Then eighty percent. Ninety. He didn’t stop growing larger until he was more than twice his original bulk. He suddenly had a physique that a body-builder could only dream of. Energy continued to crackle along his entire body from head to toe. He flexed his arms, and the air around him churned. Jo and the other Dueling Hearts standing on the sidelines could feel that, as much as he’d grown in size, his energy had grown even more. They weren’t skilled enough at sensing things with their Sols yet to know how much, but they knew it was a lot, and they knew that Jen would be able to sense it as well.

And yet the entire time, Jen hardly even shifted position. She moved her feet a bit, as if trying to decide a stance, or as if she were tracing a shape on the ground with her toes, but otherwise she held her ground. James laughed again, “So, you wanna surrender, or should I punch your lights out? I don’t mind either way.”

Jen let out a sigh, “Just come at me already.”

James shrugged, but he obliged. He took his first step toward Jen, but as he did, Jen kicked the ground, scraping her toes along the arena floor in James’ direction. A circular sigil etched out of the same soft purple light that had wrapped her feet before flashed into existence and slid along the ground, stopping just beneath James where it spread out, tripling in size. Suddenly James found himself wrapped in that same purple light, and his entire body grew almost unbearably heavy. He gasped, and dropped painfully to his knees, and no matter how hard he struggled, he wasn’t able to stand up again.

Meanwhile Jen approached him calmly. Her entire body became wrapped in purple light, and she stepped onto the sigil as well, completely ignoring its effects.

“You assumed that I could only affect myself,” Jen told James, “and that I could only make things lighter. You never even considered that I could affect you, and that I could make you heavier. If you had, you never would have made yourself so massive. But worst of all, you assumed that that drop kick was my best.”

James ignored her, continuing to struggle, right up to the moment that Jen sprung up and spin kicked him in the jaw. He fell over sideways, hitting the ground within the sigil of increased gravity with enough force that the arena shook. His eyes rolled back in his head as he passed out. Jen’s sigil disappeared, and the energy surrounding her body faded, as James’ muscles shrunk back to normal.

The entire crowd was silent. They had been sure that James had won the moment that he’d bulked himself up, but Jen had proven them all wrong. Even the stout man seemed speechless. It took him a full second to begin the count. James showed no sign of rising as the count reached ten, and a pair of Megadojo employees ran up onto the arena floor to carry his unconscious body away.

As it finally sunk in that Jen, an amateur, had defeated a pro, soundly, in only about a few minutes, the spectators erupted in cheering and applause, but Jen barely noticed. Instead she watched as the next Beatdown made his way into the arena. He was the one that Jo had taken notice of earlier for being unexpectedly slim, and yet despite what he’d just seen Jen do, and his apparent lack of physical strength, he didn’t seem concerned at all.

“After a stunning upset victory by Jen of Team Dueling Hearts,” the stout man announced, “Mike of Team Beatdown steps up to take his comrade’s place. Will he be able to get revenge for James’ defeat?”

Onward to Chapter Four