The Zone was one of those mall stalwarts that had surprisingly kept up and made it to serve a third generation of customers. It had a variety of arcade cabinets and a console play area, and in recent years, it had become popular with retro gaming fans. It was dimly lit, the walls lined with cabinets and video game posters from the past thirty years.
Not that any of that mattered to Nessa Kim, who walked in and found himself overwhelmed yet again. As he looked around, past the Super Peach Sisters poster and the Pac-Woman cabinet, he realized that he was the only boy in the entire place. He froze over with nervousness.
"Any games you want to play?" Ash asked, noting her friend overcome with uncertainty.
"Umm, hmm... Do they have Street Fighter?"
Ash looked around and saw a cabinet open. "Yeah, they do. Let's play each other." As they got closer, however, they saw there was already someone there, waiting for an opponent to fight. She looked to be in college, definitely a bit older than either of them.
"Hey there," she said in a deep voice. "You look lost, and I could use someone to fight." She stared straight at Nessa.
"Uh, sure," he responded, taking a seat and becoming Player 2. Realizing the entire cast of characters had probably changed, Nessa selected Ryu, hoping that he would play similarly to how Chun-Li once did. (He certainly has the thighs for it, he chuckled to himself.)
Round 1 got off to a hot start. If the girl had thought beating a boy — since when do boys play fighting games? — was an easy task, she was in for a surprise. Nessa was actually very good, having correctly guessed the "new" Ryu, and took the first round with ease.
"What did you do, get a girl to train you?" she sneered. "You're cute, yeah, but I didn't expect this much fight!" She wasn't happy at all. Ash, sitting nearby, chuckled, but realized this could get worse. Round two went to the girl on some hot combos. It set up a decisive third round for the game win. She took a slight early lead, but Nessa was able to anticipate her mixups and finish her off.
"I lost?" She was clearly shell-shocked. "I lost...to a boy? The only boy around?" She paused for a moment. "Argh! Rematch!"
"I think... I think I'm good," Nessa timidly replied.
"No you're not!" The girl pounced and attempted to grab Nessa by the arm and pull him away. "No you're not!" Ash saw the situation and rushed in to stop it. Boys probably barely stand a chance in something like this, she thought. And that gal is out of control.
"Yeah, and you're not being too nice!" Ash crowed back.
"Who are you? His girlfriend?"
"No, just a friend. And what you're doing is bordering on abuse," she said. "Unless your... female ego is so bruised that a boy beat you."
Some other people, apparently the girl's friends, grabbed Ash's arms. "Stay out of this," the ringleader insisted.
The basketball player tried to break free and whisk Nessa away from the scene, but it was three to one. Finally, an employee or the owner, Ash wasn't sure, ran over. "What the hell is going on here?" The older woman insisted. "No fighting in here."
The gang of girls backed off, which gave Ash the opportunity to drag Nessa away and out the door. Ash didn't stop pulling Nessa until they ducked into a side hallway to catch their breaths.
"W...w...why did that happen?" Was it once... like this for girls? Nessa thought, suddenly feeling rather timid. He realized....that girl could have really hurt him, or worse.
"I don't know. But even in this world, judging by people's reactions, dragging someone out of a place against their will isn't acceptable. If we're looking for normalcy, though, it's going to be hard to find here." They ran back toward Gap, where Jade, Jonatha and Buffie were checking out.
"How was the arcade?" Jade asked.
Nessa shook his head. "Not good," he muttered. Ash looked at Jade and then at Nessa again.
"I guess that's why you don't see too many boys in arcades," Buffie added.
"Do all girls have egos that fragile now? Where I beat someone at Street Fighter and she attempted to drag me right out of the store?" Nessa ran over and held on to Buffie, hoping to feel somewhat safe.
"No, sounds like just a jerk. Every reality has those, I guess."
