Arcade Mode, starting with the star.

Lightning struck outside your window, the winds howled softly, and your bedroom was illuminated by the soft glow of the tv. You were playing Darstalkers much later into the night than any sane man would, but a pillow rested underneath your head now, so today was over at last. You fell into sleep, looking forward to tomorrow.

So blissfully unaware.

—————————————

The arcade in the Estoc Northridge Mall was easily your favorite part of the sprawling, popular mall, and no small part of that was the Darkstalkers cabinet in the center. You would enter your real name in all the top score spaces, but ‘James’ couldn’t exactly fit— besides, everyone already knew who had the winning initials.

You annihilated challenger after challenger with your unstoppable Hsien-Ko, but unlike usual, there was still someone willing to challenge you for Darkstalkers supremacy despite the twelve straight victories that day. It was somebody wearing a hoodie, sweatpants, sunglasses, and a hospital mask; somebody who set their tokens onto the cabinet’s player 2 side.

“So you got next? I hope you’re ready to lose.” You teased, getting a bit too big for your basketball shorts.

A woman’s voice came out of the hood, and she issued a wager, “Nay, I’m ready to win. Tell ya what, ta make things more interestin’, I’d say one of us gets a prize for winnin’.”

“I’ll take you up on that. I haven’t lost with Hsien-Ko in months, and I don’t think a girl’s about to break my streak.”

“Pfft, think ya can best me just cause I’m a bird? We’ll see about that, laddie. I’m a legend, myself.”

“Oh, it’s on.” James said, smiling at the notion of a real challenge to your month-long string of Darkstalkers victories. What happened next was shocking to your very soul… when you completely and utterly annihilated your opponent… who didn’t even seem to know how to pull off Morrigan’s special moves. She soundly lost each round, as though she’d barely played before betting on her own victory. Despite all the bravado, this new challenger was just a beginning player at Darkstalkers.

In disbelief, you turned to your latest casualty, and asked about the ‘prize’ she promised. Though you could hear her pouting underneath her hoodie, she conceded, “Ach, fine, you’ll getchyer prize… just watch this.”

She just started taking her clothing off right in front of you, right in the public arcade, revealing a gorgeous woman with long, perfectly straight green hair, high-heeled leather boots, and the most amazing breasts that you had ever seen; all squeezed into the world’s skimpiest black leotard. Your jaw dropped to the hard tile floor, because the lady standing before you was unmistakably Morrigan, the sexy succubus from the exact video game you just beat her at.

You was so shocked by her presence you could barely breathe, but when your heart rate turned back to normal there was one thing on your mind. “Wow. I… hey Morrigan… so uh, what kinda prize did I win?”