Twisted Wonderland Book 6: The Watchman of the Underworld

Chapter 46: Growing Frustration

Riddle continues to play the video game, but is having trouble.

Ortho says to Riddle, "Riddle, you have to collect the blue and yellow flames!"

Riddle tries to use the control to play the game, but is struggling with it.

Idia points out, "You lose life when you hit the rocks! Use the Up button to avoid them!"

"What?! But none of these buttons say 'up'!" Riddle says, struggling.

And it's clear to see that Riddle is losing the game.

Idia says in remark, "Wow, you are REALLY bad at this, LOL. I mean press up on the D-pad, on the left side."

"I've not been on land for long, and even I figured that one out, Riddle," Azul replies.

"There's a big black dog coming up on the right. Is that an enemy?" Vil asks.

Idia shouts, "LET'S GOOO! That's the guard dog of the Underworld! It kills on sight! Quick, down to the bottom lane!"

"Now you want me to go DOWN?!" Riddle questions in a panic and tries to go down.

However, Riddle loses a life and loses the game.

"Aww, you lost all your health. Game over," Ortho replies.

Riddle expresses his frustration, "Rgh... I barely did anything at all." rather softly.

"BOY, I gotta tell you... I've never met ANYONE who didn't know what the Up button was!" Idia says. "Then again, seeing as I have no friends, this is the first time I've gamed IRL with anyone other than Ortho."

Azul chuckles, "Heh heh heh... So there IS something you're bad at, Riddle."

"You're using the wrong word. I'm not 'bad' at games. I'm inexperienced!" Riddle points out. "How about you try, since you're so smug about it?"

"Very well. Hand over the controller," Azul says.

Ortho hands the controller to Azul, "Same difficulty, right? Okay, here goes!"

And with that, Azul begins to play the game.

"The ferryman is actually moving to avoid the rocks this time," Vil says.

Impressed, Idia says, "Hey, you're pretty good for a first-timer."

"It's my first time playing this, but Floyd owns several terrestrial game consoles," Azul points out as he plays the game, "So I've dabbled a bit." Plus, Riddle was kind enough to go first and provide an EXCELLENT tutorial."

"Grk! Rrrgh," Riddle growls in frustration.

Soon enough, Azul is able to win the game without any damages.

Ortho happily says, "Azul Ashengrotto, you've cleared stage one without taking any damage! Congratulations!"

"Heh heh... I should think so," Azul replies with a confident smug.

Riddle growls in anger, "Grr... Ortho! Can you put that game on the mini-monitors on the table?"

"Sure. Why do you ask?" Ortho replies.

"I'm going to practice until I clear that stage with no damage!" Riddle answers.

"Oh, really? As the first of us to achieve that feat, I could offer you some pointers for a reasonable price," Azul says.

But Riddle refuses, "Not necessary! I just need more practice with this controller, I'm sure I can do it."

"Good grief... So much for being above such things," Jamil replies.

And then Vil says, "Make sure you both take a break every hour."

"I hope Riddle doesn't overdo it," Briar says.

Soon, Leona becomes annoyed, "Tch. All this fuss over a lousy video game. How immature are you guys?"

"Considering the average age of Night Raven College students, most of them haven't reached full maturity yet. It's an accurate descriptor," Ortho says.

"That ain't what I meant. Can't you guys use your indoor voices?" Leona questions, annoyed. "Your yappin' isn't exactly white noise, and I'm trying to take a nap."

But then Ortho says, "You should join us, Leona Kingscholar!"

"Huh?" Leona replies, confused.

"I have just the game for you. It's called, The Hydra Strikes Back!" Ortho says.

"Dude, HYDRA! It's a well-known, early-gen party game. There are tons of mini-games in it!" Idia says with excitement.

Then Ortho says, "The story starts with a young, would-be hero meeting a legendary trainer. The hero overcomes the trainer's many harsh trials... and goes on to slay the Hydra, a monster terrorizing the public. That's the basic gist.

"It's got a sequel, right?" Jamil questions, "I remember playing that on my handheld back in the day."

"That's right! They made a sequel with a wider variety of mini-games for handheld systems," Ortho happily says. "It outsold the original! The original game was released 27 years ago, and then got a digital version a few years back. It's actually had a recent resurgence in popularity."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Leona asks.

"Uh, Ortho, do you mean..." Idia questions.

Ortho giggles with a smile, "Heh heh heh! You'll just have to play for yourself and find out. Here's a controller, Leona!" and presents the remote to Leona.

Burt Leona protests, "Hey, I never said I was gonna-"

And yet, Ortho happily says, "And here we go!"

And with that, Leona is forced to play the game, much to his annoyance.