Do You Even Tin Pin Slammer, Bro [1/2]

[Snow]

Blayze groaned as he sat up, shaking his head to clear the fuzziness. How'd he even get here? Last he remembered, he was in the crossroads of Metro City, not... wherever this was. Did he fall asleep? The girl beside him, Callie, was still out of it, so he assumed they must have fallen asleep.

Though... how did they get here? That was cause for real worry and, as always, his paranoia set in. He stayed sitting, eyes narrowed as he scanned for danger. Nothing yet, but that didn't mean he was safe. His phone buzzed and he picked it up, subtly noticing that the date had moved forward a day. So he had fallen asleep. But why?


"Ah hello once again players! If you see this message then that means you have made it to day two! Congrats. Now for your mission, beat another player in a round of Tin Pin Slammer. You have 24 hours, fail and face erasure. -M
" Well that was great. Whoever this "M" person was, they weren't friendly. 

And the redhead ex-veteran really didn't want to know what "erasure" meant.

[Midna]

Callie rolled over, and realized that she was lying on the ground. Again. Had she fallen asleep? She sat up and opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that Shrike was still there. Must be another part of this weird thing they had to go through.

Oh god, were those frogs going to show up again?

Her phone beeped and she picked it up without a word. A new message. Reading it, she frowned. Tin Pin? She knew how to play, but she was horrible at it. "Morning. Have you played Tin Pin by any chance? I wonder if we beat each other at a game it'll count..."

[Snow]

Blayze looked over, red eyes focused on her. "I've played it once or twice, because I have a younger sister who was into that kind of stuff, but the only reason I won whenever I played her was because she wasn't a very good player. I was born far too early to be into Tin Pin."

He sighed, eyes scanning the area again. "As far as I know, beating each other wouldn't count because we're supposed to be working together. I think that's why we could beat those frogs yesterday; we agreed to work together."

[Midna]

Callie nodded, a faint smile on her face. "Same here. Except I didn't learn to play with a sibling, I learned with my-" and she stopped. Her smile faded. Her what? She remembered learning how to play, but not with whom. Otherwise those memories were very vivid. "I think I forgot..."

This bothered her, but she put it aside for now to focus on the mission. "You're probably right. Then how are we supposed to do it? I haven't seen any other people who can see the frogs like we can."

That's when she spotted it. A brightly colored sign with the words 'TIN PIN TOURNAMENT! Today only, walk-ins accepted.' It was next to a building with an open door. Wow. "This has got to be more than a coincidence," she said, pointing at it.

((NPC opponents? Lol we could make them be characters we'll use in the future...))

[Snow]

Blayze narrowed his eyes. "Too easy. Way too easy. There's got to be some sort of- of- trap."

And yet, look as he might, he couldn't see any traps. Being in the army had taught him to detect even the slightest thing that was out of place, and this was- really normal. Growling, he stalked close, keeping low like he expected to be attacked.

And he did, on a low level of concern. He could attack those frog things and take them out, sure, but if a person attacked him, he didn't really know if he'd go for the kill or not. All things considered, he probably would.

[Midna]

Hearing him, Callie's eyes narrowed, and she took a quick look around. "No frogs in sight," she said quietly, "We should go for it. I don't want to find out what will happen to us if we fail."

Staying close behind Blayze, she entered the building. It was loud and pretty crowded. There were a couple of people battling on one of the tables, and they were surrounded by cheering people.

Someone tapped her on the shoulder, and she jumped, looking up to see a girl with somewhat pink hair grinning at her. "Hi, are you two here for the tournament? This hour's theme is Sudden Death, so we're only using one pin per person. You can sign up with me. Do you know how to play?"

"Yeah. Umm, mostly." Callie looked around for Shrike, a little lost with so much noise.

[Snow]

Blayze nodded, eyes narrowed. He didn't recognize this girl, nor did he particularly care. "Good thing we only have one pin each anyway." Some random kid ran up and jabbered something, but Blayze really didn't hear most of it. He just wanted an excuse for a fight.

"Yeah yeah sure whatever," he muttered to the kid, who looked super happy at that.

"Great! Then c'mon, we can play right now!" The kid, who had shiny blond hair, suddenly grabbed his arm in a death-grip and dragged him away, Blayze squawking somewhat. What did he just agree to?

"Be back later, Callie!" he shouted, looking immensely defeated but also with a hint of darkness in his eyes, ready for a fight should he get the chance.

And about half an hour later, he had won against the kid.

"Whoa, you're really good!" the kid exclaimed, looking really put out.

"Or you're just really bad," Blayze snorted, getting up. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find the blond chick again."

Except that would be a lot harder in this crowded, noisy place. The only good thing about this place was that he was constantly being bumped aside or having someone shout in his ear. He couldn't have an episode in here.

[Midna]

"We'll both play," said Callie once she'd spotted Shrike. Apparently he was being dragged off to play by a boy much younger than him. Well, that solved one of their problems if he won.

"Since he's got an opponent already, I'll pair you up with Simon. He's already lost the main tournament, which is in its final stages now. And he looks bored. He's the kid with black hair over there."

Callie headed in the direction she was pointed and saw this little kid, no older than 10, sitting against the wall and staring into the crowd. When he saw her, his eyes focused on her. She thought that with his big round glasses and unblinking eyes, he looked like an owl. "Are you Simon?"

He nodded.

"I think we're up next."

Another nod.

Their game was just as quiet. Callie had to focus on the pin, and her opponent didn't seem to have anything to say. It took a long time, but she won. Callie figured it was just luck. "Thanks," she said awkwardly to the kid, then headed off to find Blayze.

[Snow]

"Callie," Blayze called, now on the sidelines where it was easier to walk. But he had to focus extra carefully on his surroundings, or else he'd fall victim to his own PTSD. He fell into it anyway, the Tin Pin Slammer tournament fading and the sounds of eerie silence pervading.

Falling into a crouch like he had been taught to do, eyes narrowed to protect them, he began to creep through the forest, brushing past trees and undergrowth. He had to remain alert, or else the Iraq soldiers would find him. He couldn't go through that kind of pain, not again.

[Midna]

"Shrike?" She'd heard her name called from somewhere. But where? Trying to look over people's heads, she finally spotted a crouching form, making their way through people towards the back corner, which was fairly dark and unoccupied. Was that him? She recognized the hair.

Pushing through groups of players, she realized that it was him. "Blayze? What are you doing?" she said, getting closer. The look in his eyes scared her, and she slowed a little. They looked like they were looking far past the walls, and they seemed sunken, haunted by something. "Are you okay?"

[Snow]

He forze, listening. He'd heard that. Pressing his back to a tree, he looked for the source. And finally his gaze fell to the enemy soldier, a pretty girl with blonde hair. Funny, he didn't think the Iraqis used females in their army. Tensing, he focused on her.

And with a growl, he lunged for his enemy. "I'll kill you," he snarled in a low voice, unwilling to alert any other soldiers to his presence. "I'll kill you!"

[Midna]

She froze when he turned to look at her. Blayze was starting to look scary, almost terrifying. "Blayze?" she said, almost a whimper.

Then he lunged at her. She tried to scream, but her breath caught in her throat, but all she could manage was a clumsy sidestep. "Shrike! Snap out of it!" There, her voice was back, but going higher pitched. "We have to work together, remember?! I'm not the enemy here!"

Now that she thought about it, the way he'd been sneaking had reminded her of something. It was very quiet and calculated; even though he'd gone crazy he was still thinking, probably. He didn't seem to be seeing anything except her either. Maybe he was having a flashback?

She shivered, and had to stop herself from backing away. There was no way she was going to let him kill her or anyone else here. "Blayze. Calm. Down. Now." She said, trying to put as much authority in her words. The sound reminded her of her parents ordering her at a young age. Maybe this could snap him out of it.

[Snow]

Blayze growled as she sidestepped. The dirty coward, avoiding him, he would take them down and rip them apart limb from limb with his bare hands because for some reason he no longer had his gun-

"Blayze. Calm. Down. Now." He froze, the authority washing over him. They thought they could tell him what to do- but why would they be trying to talk to him?- he was an enemy soldier- unless he wasn't?

And he collapsed to the ground, falling on his butt, staring up at what he now recognized to be Callie, confused. He studied her for a moment longer, and the surroundings returned to him. And he realized what he'd done and turned his head away from her, staring at the floor.

"...Sorry," he mumbled. "The war against Iraq really messed me up. I lost track of where I was and suddenly, there I am, back in Iraq..." He sighed and tried to catch his breath, the lunge having taken his breath away though he hadn't shown it, showing weakness in battle was suicide. "Sorry."

[Midna]

That seemed to do it. His eyes became less hard and more confused, until finally she realized that he was seeing the room again. With a sigh of relief, she knelt on the ground next to him. "You all right?"

Hearing his explanation, she nodded slowly. PTSD. Sad. Well, now she knew. "I'm fine," she said gently, "And now I know. We'll just be more careful. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

She wouldn't run away from him because of this. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't. They needed each other to get these mission thingies done. She'd be in more danger without him than with him. And she smiled to show that she'd stay.

[Snow]

"It's usually really hard to snap me out of an episode like that," he said, hesitating. "but whatever you did- worked. If I focus on my surroundings, I don't fall into an episode so quickly... but touches anchor me to, well, the present. I guess if I ever start getting like that, a good shake could snap me out of it..."

Blayze sighed. He glanced towards Callie and saw her smile, trying for one back. His smile was more like a painful, forced smile, but as long as he stayed in the present...

Maybe tomorrow would be a better day.

Complete!