Chapter 21 - Arcade 1

PrimeTime was designed as a hangout and a place for people to unwind.

Spread over a few acres it had arcade games, bowling, paintball, archery, shooting, horse riding, pool games, racing, amusement rides and much more.

People of all ages could come enjoy themselves.

Today Lorcan was only going to play games with his sister, the rest could go enjoy themselves on their own. He didn't invite them, he wasn't going to play with them. Hmph!!!

This is where Lorcan brought his brother, sister and his friends, although reluctantly.

Seeing that everyone was there they first went to register at the entrance and scanned their band on it. Since the band was linked with their bank accounts they could simply scan their bands on the game they want to play.

Before leaving the house Maei's grandparents as well as her parents had transfered a lot of money to her account. So she didn't have to worry about paying.

She was once again surprised at how many fun things the people here had invented. The whole place was very large and decorated with funny animals all around. There were also people doing live performances. Everywhere she looked she saw something spectacular and was fascinated by everything.

Looking at Maeisha who couldn't see enough of the arcade Lorcan was pleased that he had made the right decision to bring her here.

While Lorcan was looking at his sister so was Rhys.

He looked at the little one who was looking around with stars in her eyes and smiled a little.

Maei and her brothers went to line up to play some of the games offered nearby.

Both Maei and Cian had excitement all over them.

Lorcan's friend Paul Lowry, seeing that the live show was about to start, suggested that they go watch it first.

"You guys go ahead. I am going to stay here and watch them play." Lorcan said when he saw that his sister was more interested in playing games.

His friends weren't surprised. From the way he was behaving since morning he was a Sis con alright.

"I will keep you company as well. I am not interested in live shows." Rhys surprisingly replied as well.

Lorcan looked at his leader and friend couldn't understand what was going on his mind. He was being different than usual.

Maei and Cian could care less about who was staying or leaving. They were more interested in playing games and ignored everyone else than their elder brother.

After they finished playing that game Lorcan asked them, "What are we going to play next?"

"Can I get to pick?" Maei asked while pointing at the big fox not far away from her.

"Ok lets gooo..." Cian took her hand and led her there with Lorcan and Rhys following them.

The animals on display were prizes for playing mini-games.

"Let's give it a try then."

They picked the shooting game since shooting was a subject they were most familiar with.

Both Rhys and Lorcan picked up the guns to play since kids under the age of 14 were not allowed to practice with guns and even then only in Battle school. They were not even allowed in their homes or under the supervision of their parents. Any minor caught playing or shooting guns under violation would be severely punished.

The laser guns in the arcade, though were of the lowest possible setting were not allowed to be handled by kids. They could play the stimulation shooting games instead.

By this time the rest of them had also appeared. Sky, Cade and Paul were shocked to find the two best shooters in their wing playing to win a stuffed animal.

"You know you guys are cheating right. You both are high level shooting experts." Paul said amusingly. "Why don't you let Sky play. He needs the practice. haha"

"Hey!! I am only a little worse than you guys." Sky was most definitely offended. "Fine I will play and show you my skills. Maybe you can also learn something. hmph!!"

Saying this Sky took the gun from Lorcan's hand.

Maei secretly pulled her brother's hand, "Brother will he be able to get me my fox?"

Lorcan was amused and tussled her hair in a way to reassure her. He was about to say something when...

"You will get your fox."

Hearing that Maei turned her head and saw that Rhys had followed them.

That was when a loud "Ding!!" sounded.

They looked over and saw that the previous player had finished playing and it was their turn.

Sky, after observing others play and reading the rules, he decided to give it a go. The guy scanned his band into the machine and picked up the laser gun. He then took a deep breath before pushing the 'start' button.

The game itself was pretty simple, where all he needed to do was to hit as many balloons that came up. Different colors carried different scores. The player was given two minutes to collect as many points as possible.

In the beginning, it was relatively simple, where Sky landed all his shots on the balloons that carried the most points. He even had the time to shoot the red and yellow balloons that carried lesser points. Soon, his score accumulated really fast.

At the rate he was going, he would be able to claim the fox in less than two minutes.

As time passed, the balloons fell faster and faster, and black balloons started to pop up as well. The scores would be deducted if the player shot black balloons. The game was getting harder by the second.

When the time was almost over, he started to panic and inadvertently hit another black balloon right before the time ended.

In the end, his only reward was a sticker saying 'Better luck next time.'

Maei and everyone were all trying very hard to hold their laughter.

This pathetic result had deeply embarrassed Sky.

So, he decided to go for another round. Perhaps it was due to his nervousness or his desperation for better results, he fared worse in the second round. This time, he accidentally hit a total of four black balloons and didn't even receive a sticker.

"Hahaha!!!"

No one could control themselves and started laughing.

"I thought you were going to teach us some new skills. HAhahaha"

"Stop laughing its hard to not shoot black balloons."

They laughed even harder hearing that.

While they were laughing, Rhys went forward and picked up the gun to play next.....