The Arcade

“The Arcade” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Marvellous Daniel, Nigeria.

The Arcade

Chapter 1 - The Introduction

It was the day that anyone and everyone dread.

The day that all children would fall flat on their faces. The day that all grown-ups would feel as if they were near their graves. The day that elders would still laze around like elders. It was... a MONDAY! Unfortunately, our hero, Rudy Jayson, was stuck at the nightmare that was School on this fateful Monday.

“‘Scuse me, Mr Jayson. WAKE UP!!” Mr Sal Mon P. Cock snapped, "That is a detention for you, young sir" "Sure, I'll go. I don't have anything do in THIS pig sty anyway" rebellious Rudy responded.

Rudy suddenly snatched the slip of paper from him and quickly weaselled through the minor gap the door had left for him before his teacher went LIVID!

Chapter 2 - The Arcade

As Rudy’s' simple nature, he didn't go to detention as an obedient child would; instead, he went to his favourite arcade, The Box. He stepped through the doors of his most loved place in the whole city, and then he browsed around for games to play. Under the regular circumstances, a child would do this quickly so he/she wouldn't get caught, but, Rudy didn't really care- he got into trouble all the time. As Rudy was taking his time and steps, he stumbled upon the new game they had just installed. It was called Pixel Islands. Rudy scrambled around in his pockets until he finally coughed up a quarter-pound coin, "I didn't need any lunch money anyway" he said with a near-crying face. He inserted the coin. The screen was absolutely blank. Rudy had 'realized' it was a scam and opened his mouth to say a curse word or two, but before anything could even come out of his mouth, he felt an unusual suckage on his arm, then it crawled onto his shoulder, then it shifted onto his chest. Rudy was practically quivering at this point. He looked downwards...only to find his body getting absolutely DEMONITISED. As soon as he could even think about what to scream he was completely minimized and dragged into the coin slot.

Chapter 3 - Red, Blue and Green

Rudy’s body had been sent to a dark abyss, and surprisingly he wasn't a pile of human pork-chops. For about 20 seconds, Rudy thought he had reached that beautiful Nintendo 2DS in the sky, but, just then an EXTREMELY bright light suddenly burst out of the darkness. The bodacious, bright, light brought out the colours: Red, Blue and Green. At first, Rudy was confused, until, he realized he was standing in front of one giant pixel. The pixel spoke, "Welcome player, I am Pixellius Programmium, I am the guardian of the Islands, I stood as the representative of the Islands until the Glitch came into our world, I tried to protect the Islands, but I stood no chance against its' powers, I said the sacred words of Programmi and opened the portal into this world." Rudy was absolutely bamboozled. After about 15 seconds of awe, Rudy finally spat out, "I'm in a video game?" but, the game did not really have anything to say to that so it just said, "GO! Save the Islands!" Suddenly Rudy was covered in a tube-like light (the kinds you see in alien sci-fi movies), then, as if by magic, he started to hover about 1 foot off the 'ground'. Rudy screamed, "What is happening to me?!" but just then he was broken into pieces that were probably the size of Legos. "I wish you success, hero" the Guardian boomed as our soon to be "Hero of the Islands" was minimized and delivered to the Pixel Islands.

Chapter 4 - What in the Super Mario World are -a- you? (The Absolute Conclusion pt.1)

As Rudy was being transported to this mystical land, the Glitch was plotting how he can take over the Islands, "I need to get these Islands out of the power of my brother, the Guardian, and to do that I need to get through the barrier he created over the Island."

Soon after that, Rudy had arrived on the Main Island, the Outlet, and was seen by the keen eye of....... SUPER MARIO!!! "What in the Super Mario World are -a- you?" The Nintendo Star questioned. After a few blinks, Rudy answered, "You're M...M...Mario!" Rudy said in disbelief. "Uh...Yes and -a- you are ....?" "RUDY!!!!!!! MY NAME IS RUDY!!!!!!!" Rudy said while shaking Mario's hand quite violently. "What are -a- you supposed to be?" Mario asked with an uncomfortable look on his face. "I'm a Human. Aren't you a human too? Wait. Aren't you a human too?" Rudy asked, "Well...Yes and -a- No; Yes, because I am a Humanipixel. No, because I am a Humanipixel" Mario said in an "I don't know what I'm saying" manner, but Rudy seemed to understand.

Rudy explained to Mario what had happened, and fortunately for Rudy, he knew how to help. Mario took him to the Guardians' Palace. But, at that moment the Glitch had found his way in and readied a surprise attack. As Rudy and his companion, Mario, entered the Palace, they were swallowed by a Binary filled Black blanket. The Glitch had gotten them. Rudy asked Mario what was going on, but when all he got was silence, he looked at Mario and saw his desperate look, then suddenly, Mario burst into thousands scattered blocks.

"MARIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Rudy screamed as he fell to the ground. Then, as if it were a Viper, the Glitch tried to attack Rudy, but, it was blocked by some kind of invisible shield around him. The Glitch, after a million tries, finally realized that Rudy wasn't a Pixel, so he couldn't hurt him. Rudy also realized this after some time and delivered a heavy blow to the Glitch and it actually worked. The Glitch suddenly cleared. Rudy, after realizing the Glitch was defeated, ran towards the spot where Mario destroyed, he fell to his knees and began to cry. But then, he felt a light touch his face, Rudy looked up slowly only to realize that it was Mario standing alive and well. “It’s -a- me, Mario!" Mario said offering Rudy his hand "Mario! You're alive!" Rudy said with a face-full of amazement "Of -a- course am ali...wait a minute, I died?!" Mario said with a "wait a minute, I died?" facial expression. "Well Yes and No, but I don't think you'll want all the details." Rudy said. "Nah. I -a- want all details". But as soon Rudy opened his mouth to explain, he was covered in a tube-like light (the kinds you see in alien sci-fi movies), Rudy, knowing exactly what was going on gave Mario a friendly "goodbye" wave then looked upward and was suddenly sucked out of the Game world.

The Real Conclusion

Rudy was painfully pushed out of the game booth, and after all the stuff that had happened to Rudy, he decided to never take education for granted again, but right at that moment, Mr Sal mon P. Cock burst into the Arcade with Rudy's Mom. "You are in a lot of trouble, Rudy!!" his Mom said with a "Just wait 'till we get home, mister" look on her face. He suddenly saw the Glitch as nothing compared to what his Mom was going to do to him when he got home. "Before we go, can I please get a quarter?" Rudy said befo- you know what, I'll save it for the next story......