Save The Date (N-Not That It's A Date Or Anything!) [Maia]

Isaac's gut wanted to do a double take at Maia seemingly being won over by Gintama's, for lack of a better term, "charms?" Thankfully, Isaac's brain was there to smack it upside the head and tell it to stop being an idiot. Between the brief signal she shot Isaac and the complete 180 in reaction she had to Gintama, he knew she was setting up some kind of plan. Probably one better than his, anyway. If anything it only made Isaac marvel at how good of an actor she was, if she could look at a slimeball like Gintama and sound even the slightest bit flirty.

He felt his phone ring, and quickly sent her a text in response. Got Elliot calling in the cavalry. We just gotta hold the line until security gets here. he responded. A quick check of the nearby area revealed a conspicuously empty House of the Dead machine. As much as it nauseated him, until then there would be nothing he could do. A shame, too, because he wanted nothing more than to give this creep a pounding. Truth be told, he was kind of worried. Maia was pretty rusty, as far as he could tell from playing her, and yet here she was stepping up and challenging this guy. Already, he could tell what kind of cliche response to her suggestion of a wager was coming.

"Heh. Of course, of course. I mean, I'm not a bad guy," he somewhat mockingly crooned. "But if I win, how about you and I ditch short stuff over here?" He turned to Isaac, relishing in how the boy's nose seemed to wrinkle in disgust. "Anything to say, pipsqueak, or are you gonna keep standing there gawking like an idiot?" he asked, hoping to keep prodding the boy further.

"Good luck. You're gonna need it," Isaac said, pushing the string of curse words that he actually wanted to say far, far into the back of his mind. Trusting Maia got him this far. He wasn't about to stop trusting her now. Of course, nobody who actually sucked at Street Fighter talked a game this big. Who was to say Gintama hadn't pulled stunts like this before? He'd be hoping as hard as possible that Maia wouldn't end up forced to give this loser the time of day.

Naturally, the towering Hugo was Gintama's main choice. Isaac's eyes widened slightly, as he found himself wondering how Maia could take on a guy that practically filled the screen.

There was no comeback. In fact, it was like Hugo never showed up to the fight in the first place. The giant's slow attempts at offense and defense were shredded to bits by Cammy's lightning fast speed, and half of the big man's health was gone in the blink of an eye. Gintama furiously rushed his character in, furious and trying to exploit his massive range, but it was to no avail. He was overextending himself way too badly, and Cammy was able to easily turn the momentum back every time. Maia's games with Isaac were tepid affairs that generally went to a count out, in part because they were too busy talking and flirting and in part because Isaac had no idea what he was doing. In contrast, this game went to a solid KO before the timer even significantly dwindled. It was a complete curb stomp, at least for Round 1

Gintama stepped back, cracking his neck and moving his arms exaggeratedly as if warming himself up. "Alright, alright. Guess I went a little easy on Round One," he said, trying not to let his anger at being had manifest too much. He may have sounded cocky, but there were daggers beneath his words. "Wouldn't want to crush that feisty spirit of yours so quick, now would I? But if you think I'm holding back any further, too bad. The chains are off now!" There was a distinct lack of cheers and applause from the audience, only a disgusted look from Isaac. It was clear Gintama was used to having his boys rallying behind him and cheering whatever he said, and that this comparative silence was tormenting him. His respect was at all-time lows, and the perpetual danger in his voice was a clear sign of that.

Isaac, on the other hand, was currently applauding Maia's efforts. Was he offended that despite his assurances, she still held back for him in a massive way? Oh yeah, totally. But he could gripe about that later. More than anything, he was happy to see her completely handing Gintama's butt to him on a silver platter. Besides, he had to admit, it was crazy fun watching her play. She was like a machine, relentlessly crushing anyone in her way. Was that why she didn't like playing competitive? Because she was just too unstoppable? Or was that just daydreams of Maia Quinn, (Street) Warrior Princess talking?

"Guess you're all talk, eh big guy?" Isaac asked. "And here I thought I was supposed to be scared of you."

"Shut it, twerp. At least I'm not having my girlfriend fight my battles for me," Gintama sneered in response.

"Pretty sure this became her battle when you started draping yourself over her like some cheap leather jacket," Isaac countered. Gintama growled slightly at Isaac talking smack about his favorite jacket. "Trust me, I'd love to wipe that smirk off your face myself. But right now I'm not the one you've got to answer to.

Time for Round 2!"

This time Gintama would play a little bit more defensively, trying to swat Cammy out of range with Hugo's superior reach. It'd take a lot of careful timing, with how slow the giant's swings were, but he wasn't about to let these two kids clown on him. Before it was about humiliating some stupid punk who cost him his credibility with his gang. Now it was about proving he was still the big dog of the yard. And maybe scoring a date with a fine-looking girl, too. There was nothing in the world that could be a better pick me up.

Gintama was tired of responding to the taunts and jabs. He simply grit his teeth and shook his head at Maia's comments, trying to focus on getting his groove back instead of letting her continue throwing him off. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. He was simply getting outplayed no matter how hard he tried. His attempts at advancing were dodged, his attempts at spacing were punished, and his attempts at setting up a grab were easily wiggled out of. He was left getting increasingly desperate, and with desperation an idea started to cross his mind. He smirked as he looked at the health totals, figuring there was just enough time to force the fight into Round 3.

One hand kept to the controls, while the other subtly drifted over to the side of the cabinet. When it was out of Maia's sight he smashed the side of the cabinet viciously, a thunderous bang echoing through the arcade. It was loud enough to make Isaac cringe; would it throw off Maia and end up costing her precious few seconds of game time? For a character as powerful as Hugo, a few seconds could mean almost all of a character's health. This was especially the case near the end of a round, where Hugo's meters were all nearly full. An Ultra Combo sneaked in during a single moment of hesitation could lead to a win being stolen. He inputted the buttons in a frenzy, waiting to see if he would be able to land the hit.

Isaac wasn't having any of that crap. "What a load of bull!" he said as the hand hit the cabinet. "Can't even compete without cheating?" If Maia managed to avoid his trick and win the round, this would be a triumphant barb. If she was thrown off guard and robbed of the win, it would be a furious demand. Regardless, Isaac was getting really tired of the "great" Gintama's shenanigans. He nervously checked his phone, hoping to see if Elliot had any luck finding the arcade's security. They had to be getting here soon, right?

Damnit! None of this was supposed to happen! Gintama gave the machine another angry whack, not out of distraction this time but out of anger. He turned to leave, muttering "Whatever, deal's a deal. You're all a waste of the great Gintama's time anyway."

Unfortunately, in his sulking, he didn't even notice himself bumping into a thick chest. "Hey, Tubbs, watch where you're go- oh." Gintama's irritable, better-than-you tone took a far different tone when he realized "Tubbs" was, in fact, a large and burly security guard. He gave Gintama a dirty look, wordlessly asking of the punk would go quietly or make this a little fun for him. Considering this security guard was not a 5-foot 15 year old brat, a fight wasn't exactly on the cards for Gintama. He held his hands up to show he didn't mean any funny business and walked away, shooting Isaac the dirtiest of looks as he passed. In response Isaac simply gave a mocking salute, Gintama mouthing that he was at "the top of the list." Isaac wasn't sure he liked what that meant, but could he really bring himself to care about this lowlife?

Nah, there were far more important people to care about right now. Like the complete and utter badass standing right next to him. "I'm glad you were able to send that low-life packing. Kind of amazed you were even able to stand talking to him for that long, honestly," Isaac said. "But can we talk about how awesome you were there? Because holy crap, I've never seen a game move like that before! Almost wish you weren't taking it easy on me back there. I would've loved seeing that earlier!" He didn't even sound annoyed. He was far too won over by Maia's skills to care about silly things like that.

Of course, dealing with Gintama was really exhausting, and he wasn't sure how much Street Fighting he had left in him. "We could go a few more rounds if you wanted, but I dunno if I'd be able to put up nearly enough of a fight," he admitted. "Anything else you want to check out while we're here?"

Frankly, Isaac couldn't find the threat too worrying. Sure, Gintama was bigger than him, and far stronger than him, but he was also 95% bluster and hot air. He really wasn't a significant risk, especially compared to the real Digital problems Isaac contended with on a regular basis. "You say it like that guy's a problem," Isaac said. "If anything, he was more of a threat when he had his gang backing him up. Doubt they'll work with him again when they hear how badly he botched this Street Fighter plan." It was only then that he found himself catching on to the second part of Maia's comment. "Wait, someone put you on their list? Alright, who do I gotta fight here?" he said, only half-joking.

Isaac was a little confused to hear Maia liked their way better. He couldn't imagine holding back to that severe of a degree. It must've been torment to her seeing him flub the most basic moves and misunderstand the flow of the genre, each time wanting to say what could've been done better. That was always how Elliot made it seem when they played games, at least, as he forcibly forged Isaac into a half-decent Mario Kart player beneath his iron fist. "At least he was just threatening to kill me. I'm used to that," Isaac said somewhat matter-of-factly. If pressed further, he'd just say it was about people like Gintama being rude when he came to Japan, or maybe internet jerks. Certainly that was the only major time that happened, right?

He looked around the room, eventually noticing a doorway leading to a different section of the arcade. His eyes widened slightly as he noticed what it was, and a grin spread across his face. "Laser Tag," he read from the sign on the wall. Between this and DDR, it was shaping up to be a really active trip to the arcade! The two were probably going to be pretty tired after this, weren't they? "I always had a blast with this back home. You want to play a bit?" he asked, not moving until Maia gave the okay. If she did he almost unconsciously took her wrist as he walked, not wanting her to get lost in the crowd. After all, they'd have to pass through like half the arcade to reach the laser tag section, and that meant dealing with tons of crowds.

He found himself slowing down slightly in response to Maia's tease, though. A gentle blush spread across his face as he tried to find out why he didn't debate the point. Naturally, that meant his first, instinctual counter to the statement was a pretty crappy one. "Why didn't you?" he asked, a slight stutter in his voice from being caught off guard and trying to pull together a far better response. However, his blush died down to little as soon as he found a reason better than "Because I really wouldn't mind you being my girlfriend." For obvious reasons, that one would've just been unacceptable! Instead, he said "Well, he was trying to get under my skin, right? That meant if I said anything, he won. Figured the oh-so-great Gintama wasn't even worth the time explaining things to."

Sure, Isaac. keep telling yourself that.

Maia had a really good excuse too. She was the one with everything on the line at that point, not Isaac. Of course she wouldn't have any time for trash talking. It was probably a stupid question for the boy to even ask in the first place. Although he couldn't help but notice that she was blushing and stammering in response just as much as he was. For a second, the thought crossed Isaac's mind that Maia wasn't being entirely honest with him. In exactly the same ways he was being dishonest with her, maybe?

Of course, that deduction failed to take into account the fact that it was impossible, no matter how much he wished it was true.

The laser tag room was nice and dark, just how Isaac liked it. It made the neon lighting of the targets, cyan and orange, all the brighter. The outfits looked a little goofy, with bright lines running down the sides of the chestplates and Dragon Ball Z style eye pieces atop the right eyes of the helmets. However, the silliness of the presentation was half of the fun. It was like stepping into the future, if the future was designed by tacky marketing executives. Bright cores on the chest, back, and sides represented accepted targeting regions, with smaller ones on the sides of the head and back. There was a small handful of other people there, but right now nothing too hectic. The two wouldn't be left with much of a wait for slotting into a game.

"Here we are. Elliot and I used to feud day in and day out at these places. When we last went on vacation, we must've torn through our entire allowances having a marathon battle," he boasted. It made him a little sad and nostalgic, but he tried not to let that show in his face. This was before the incident with Elliot's leg, after all, and nowadays he wouldn't be able to participate in laser tag no matter how badly he wanted to. Most of the fun times Isaac boasted about were many years ago now, and he would've been a good deal rusted from his peak.

"Are we teaming up, or do you want to try and take me on?" he asked, honestly unsure which he'd prefer to do.