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Stupid spaceship… stupid title… stupid Tetris Kings… stupid, stupid stupid Tee…
Such were the common thoughts of one Ar Tate on days like these.
When he wasn't hanging out with family, being dramatic alone or practicing his (nowadays, rather poor) Tetris skills, he was a never ending conquest for the title of Tetris King. Regardless of his own shattered reputation in the public eye, to him, they were the good ol' days.
The days of having the world praise his name and his skills, a lavish lifestyle and the feeling of being on top of the world. Those were the days, the peak of his entire life to him.
But it's never been the same since Ex took over. Now the world had scorned him, looked over him and deciding that it wasn't worth any time to treat him with respect! And he had been tracking and fighting Ex and his family down all those years for NOTHING when he left!
Tee was like if everything he hated was put into a melting pot and formed a man. He was a lot like Ex in demeanor and skill, and the latter had already robbed him of the title he believed he deserved. But if there was anything he was that Ex wasn't, it was reclusive. He never made public appearances like he or Ex would do during their reigns. He would just fly in that stupid little spaceship that belonged to Ex, the S.S. Tetra or whatever. But for sure he knew it was a pain to track down, a pain to follow, a complete pain to get there through normal means.
So that leads to the roadblock of his own conquest: waiting for a way that he can appropriately reach it and actually be able to face off Tee. It was frustrating to be in such a spot. All he could really do is grumble and throw darts at the dartboard he had plastered the king's face on.
Man, if only something incredibly convenient would happen, like him randomly showing up or a dimensional merge—
Turns out, the latter!
Ar knew absolutely nothing about dimensional merges beyond the possibility that they could happen. As far as he knew, they were rare and quickly dealt with by unknown forces. But, whatever the case, the tear in front of him did not close as fast as it should have. Were they… slacking on the job? Was it unable to be closed? Or another third possibility he couldn't think of?
A good dude knows how to take advantage of a bad situation, however. What if Tee and his little crew got stuck in it? Then they would be trapped together, nothing keeping him away from strangling the title out of Tee and getting it back again. Nobody would notice if he just slipped in and came back, right?
Crossing his fingers with delight, he went for the plan and stepped in.
Oh. He definitely did not plan this through at all.
He found himself on the ground, surrounded by dirt as he got up and looked around. This wasn't home at all, he knew, but that was all he could say. A growl escaped his mouth as he began to walk around wherever he was now.
Ar felt ticked off as he began to walk around. He should've known not to jump into another revenge plot without a clear path to take, but hubris had grabbed ahold of his mind once again. He grumbled, thinking about just going home, so he began to turn around to go back to where he came from…
THUD!
Snapping him out of his mulling now stood in front of him a giant Tetris block. He was dumbfounded by it for a moment, before he shook his head and looked up above. That wasn't normal, he knew. As far as he could tell, this could only have been the result of the merging he just stepped into.
Well, man. Guess he was stuck here. Just gotta wait until he could find a way home and hope he could get back home…
"Ugh! What even are these blocks!? I didn't want to spend my afternoon getting nearly crushed by these!"
His ears perked up at the sound of another voice, and he eyed his surroundings to see who was speaking out. Besides that, the place was seemingly quiet, almost empty looking. Maybe the town was abandoned or something. But first, he went searching.
Soon enough later, he found the pouting voice, a girl with curly pink hair and blue eyes. She was clearly ticked off about being here, and definitely more vocal about it than Ar's own frustration with the situation. He quickly slinked into some bushes, not wanting to be spotted by her just yet. He just needed to think first. Think, think, think…
Eureka! If he could get her on his side, she could find Tee, beat him and then let him beat her so he can finally be king again! It should be flawless! It should be perfect! And gained through not shady means, too! Time to approach…
He walked up to her and tapped her shoulder, ready to put his new plan into action. As she turned around, he put on a modest smile, the two now eye to eye. "Why, hello there.", he introduced himself, like he said to everyone he met. She didn't speak yet, simply startled by the sight of him. Ar gave her a wave, trying to show that he meant no ill will, but she started to walk away anyways.
"W-Wait!", he shouted, trying to keep her attention. This plan couldn't fail! It just couldn't! The girl let out an exasperated sigh before facing him again. "What do you want!?", she asked, irritated.
"You wouldn't mind helping a poor man out, right?", he asked. "Or maybe play a round of Tetris with me?"
"Tetris? What are you even talking about!?"
Ar was surprised. She… didn't know what Tetris was!? It wasn't a staple to them like it was to his universe!? He thought that it was absurd, how she didn't know what the game was, and if she was mistaking the giant Tetris blocks for something else. Life here must be horrible if they didn't know what it was. Regardless, Ar just squeaked out a sheepish, "… Never mind.", before continuing with what he started with.
"You still wouldn't mind helping me out, do you?"
The girl just gave Ar a glare, annoyed. "I don't even know who you are! You can deal with your own problems!", she shouted at him. Without much hesitation, Ar went down to his knees and started to beg.
"You don't understand! I need help! If you see a purple guy… beat him for me! Kick the ever living daylight out of his eyes! Put your hands around his neck and—"
He stopped himself by covering his mouth before he could finish the sentence. The idea of just wringing the title out of Tee was so tantalizing that he couldn't help but imagine the scenario. He just gave a little worried giggle to her, just begging for her to agree.
Sadly for him, she still seemed uninterested and frustrated at him. "I have enough problems with my own purple annoyance! Now get lost!", she shouted. To make it even worse for Ar, the girl raised her foot and kicked him away. As she began to leave, he grasped onto the grass beneath him, seething. Why couldn't this just go his way!? Just why!?
… Thank goodness he knows how to deal with bad situations like this.
Ar stormed up behind her and grabbed the collar of her shirt, quickly raising her up to face level. The girl quickly thrashed about seeing that he had grabbed a hold of her, but the grip his hand had on her shirt collar was too tight. "Let me go!", she shouted at him. In response, he said back, "No way, missy! Not until I get my help!"
He smirked as his emerald green eyes were overtaken by swirls. The thrashing continued, but as she gave a look at his eyes, they locked for a long moment. "What are you doing?", she asked, attempting to break eye contact. Her eyes widened as she realized what was going on as she failed to look away at his eyes. "Stop it! STOP!", she screamed, freaking out.
Soon enough, the wriggling around had ceased. Her blue eyes were now dull, her pupils vanished. Ar let out a slight giggle, finally letting her down. "There we go.", he said to himself. "Now we can finally get to business.". He hummed in satisfaction, thinking of how to properly explain his plight to his new minion. Until he said anything, she would just stand there, slack, motionless, waiting for an order, so he had awhile to think…
After a moment, it came to him. "Ok.", he started, taking a deep breath. "I'll tell you a story. Sit down.", he stated. On order, she sat down, and Ar sat down quickly after.
"Once upon a time, I was once a beloved figure on my home planet. Everyone loved me. I can remember it all like it was just yesterday… but if I was still beloved, I wouldn't be here, would I?"
The girl gave a quick and silent nod before he continued. "A long time ago, my… best friend.", he began through clenched teeth. That man… but he would have to keep the anger down for now. "Yeah. My best friend, at the time, had taken what made me so loved away from me. He didn't deserve it! The circumstances shouldn't have counted!! But sadly, he got it anyway. And I began to drift into the background…", he shuddered, suppressing his worst memories in the aftermath of the event from the front of his mind. "But it's not about him. He disappeared a long time ago… not like I care anymore. There's a new beloved holder of what he and I were before."
He placed his hands from his lap to the ground, as if he wanted to sink them into the dirt to ground himself. Tee… he was about to snarl, but was able to keep his composure. "His name is Tee. You can easily spot him out, that man is just purple from head to toe. When you see him, beat him in a Tetris battle for me, ok? If you win, he loses his title, and you can give it to me.", he explained. "And then the title belongs to who it's meant to have been belonged to this entire time… ME!"
He grinned as he thought of the sight. Finally, he would have what he deserved this whole time! Hopefully, this girl would be able to deal with the task of tracking Tee down and defeating him… it'll probably not be a worry at all —
"Horary!"
Ar barely had time to react when a beam of light hit the structure between him and the girl. He jumped up in fear, hairs sticking out as he had to regain his temper and balance. Well, he had his balance back, not his temper. "Rude.", he snarled. Someone tried to attack him! And didn't even start a Tetris battle!! That's just downright rude of someone to do! Who did it!?
Soon enough, out slinked the perpetrator, a young girl with purple hair and dark blue eyes. If the first girl was not as tall as him, this girl barely reached above his waist. Her eyes were of disapproval, possibly malice, as she stared at him dead in the eye. "What are you doing here?", she asked.
"Well, I… um…", he stammered, not wanting to blow his plan right here. "I accidentally ended up here. I assume you might've too?"
"The spirits have spoken to me…", she began. "They have decided you are a villainous force, and that you shouldn't be around here. You're up to something, aren't you?"
Freaky., was all he thought as her glaze shifted from him to the other girl. "What did you do to her!?", she asked with a demanding tone. Ar had to quickly think of a lie to respond with, because this was escalating in the possibility to ruin his perfect scheme too fast for him to be relieved.
"Just a little bit of… persuasion, that is. All three of us are most likely stuck here until further notice, after all."
He could tell from her look that she didn't buy it one bit. "This isn't persuasion, it's brainwashing!", she spat out. "You can't fool the spirits! Now get out before I make you do so!"
This was getting annoying really quickly. "Listen here, little girl! You were the one who attacked me and my accomplice here unprovoked! You didn't even start a Tetris battle, for god's sake!", he shouted back at her. He was itching for a Tetris battle as well, and this scuffle heightened it for him. "That's just rude!"
"What on earth's name is Tetris!?"
Dear god, not another person who had no idea what Tetris is! Are these people SERIOUSLY that boring!? What do they play again if they lack Tetris in their lives? But this wasn't about them, this is all about him and his glorious conquest!!! Not about who, to him, was now just an enemy in battle!
"You heard me, missy! And no not knowing what it is won't stop me from challenging you to a Tetris battle, right here, right NOW!"
Man, what a walk in the park! A minute and thirty seconds after it started, he was already going to win! This was the easiest battle he had played in a good few years, and it felt so refreshing.
"You're pathetic! You're worthless! You're hopeless! Just give up!"
"Zodiac-"
"THAT WAS NOTHING!"
"No, you can't!"
"CASCADE!"
And moments later, she was down, her board topping over as she fell to the ground. "I should've predicted this…", she sighed to herself. Ar's smile at the sight grew into a large grin, then a cackle. "Now you know what Tetris is!", he said, looking down at her. "And now…", he started, grabbing ahold of the girl's dress and raising her up. "I claim my prize!"
Just like clockwork, the swirls overtook his eyes. The girl was too dazed in the moment to have the thought to look away and get out of here. Without the struggle, she quickly succumbed to it, and just like his accomplice, was put down on the ground slack and motionless. With an extra pair of hands, this should be easy!
… Only if Tee would show up. This place was truly empty, only being him and his two new allies at this point. Why wouldn't that idiot just show up!? This is supposed to be the day he achieves victory! Everything is going perfectly except for his absence! Should he just… call it quits?
Nah. Tee's gotta show up eventually. This has got to work, and he knew what to do now. Search this place top to bottom and come back with a great answer. He looked back at his two accomplices, thinking that he could just leave them here to scheme between each other to expand and polish his great plan to make it truly the best it could be. Walking to the girl with pink hair, he stated, "I'm going to search around. Tell her what we're doing while I'm gone, alright?"
She nodded and started to whisper to the other girl as Ar began to walk from the space they had all met and conversed this whole time. The giant Tetris blocks still seemed to be falling down, but at a much slower pace than when he arrived. And yet, this place was still as deserted as when he got here. This was absurd! It should be populated, but here it was, essentially completely empty!
And as such, there was no Tee. You gotta be kidding! It means that he had gotten two people to search for a guy that wasn't! Even! HERE! But, per usual, he continued the route of the sunk cost fallacy. Maybe, once he searches this place top to bottom, he'll be there! He's gotta!
… But hold up. Is that… someone else?
From the corner of his eye was another newcomer. Another girl, this time with blue hair and much closer to him in height than the other two. Most likely lost like the first one, and not going to attack him like the second one. An extra pair of hands would make everything so much easier… so time to make his moves again.
The previous two encounters had made him more keen on what to do around these people. Shifting his face to an average smile, he started to walk forward to the girl. She didn't seem to notice him, until, like in the beginning, he tapped her shoulder as she whipped around to face him. "Why, hello there.", he introduced himself to her. Before she could ask anything, he went straight into talking about his plight.
"Look. I know we have just met, but we can help each other out, being stuck here for the time being!", he stated. "… you have any problems you want help with? 'Cause I really do."
She was not impressed at all, giving an expression that could be read as annoyed. "Who even are you?", she asked. Oh, yeah, nobody recognized him at all. Better think of a good response…
"Someone stuck here with you and in need of help!"
"Wow. Thanks for not answering my question."
Ar gave out a sigh. "Fiiiine, girl. My name is Ar. I'm not from around here, but I ended up here from whatever has been going on today. And I need some help…"
His eyes shifted with uncertainty, wondering if he should just bite the bullet and brainwash her right here before she said no. Thankfully, he could let out a sigh of relief as the girl answered back without any trace of being suspicious about him. "Well… if you can help me get back to my darling Satan, I guess we can work for now. What do you want?"
For a moment, Ar lost all ability to respond, in shock by her answer. Satan…? Is she serious!? He remembered being a kid, terrified by his own universe's version of the beast. Though, by the thought of that, he remembered that this wasn't his own world. Maybe this Satan is completely different from his own… this lady still was weird anyways. He just shook and regained his composure to give his own answer to her question.
"You see, I've been searching for someone for years. Someone who's wronged me. With an event like this, I feel like the two of us can cross paths again…", he began to explain. "If you see a purple, and I do mean purple, guy… you must beat him up for me. Give him his just desserts for what he's done to me! And, for my part of the deal, I'll try to find your lover… no promises, however."
After a minute of pondering his request, the girl finally responded with her decision. "I'm not here getting dirt on my hands for a stranger. Sorry, but I can find my dear on my own.", she stated as she began to walk away from him. Ar ran back to as soon as she was not eye to eye with him and began to beg once more.
"Pleaseeee? I have others helping me out, but four pairs of hands is better than three pairs! That's how it works!"
"No means no!", she shouted at him as she raised her arm, smacking his head with the paper fan that rested in her palm. He staggered back a bit from the impact, but quickly shook it off. And if he knew anything, he wasn't here to take no for an answer. So, it was time for the trick up his sleeve…
He walked back up to her again, and as she got into a defensive position, he sighed. "Ok, ok, I'll leave you be.", he stated. "That's what I wanted to tell you… after I do this."
Once more, the swirls overtook his eyes. The girl had already let her guard down, but quickly got back to her defensive stance. "I need my help, lady. Sadly, from you I have to get it through… alternative methods.", he said, looking her dead in the eyes. "I really didn't want to do this."
He was lying in the end, having always intended on this happening. At that point, eyes locked, the struggle from the lady began. "You…", she growled, slowly turning into fear. "Someone! Anyone! Help!", she cried. Ar chuckled at her and simply stated, "Nobody's around to hear or see us… sadly for you."
"I-If I could do anything right now, I'd kick the daylight out of your eyes!"
"Only if you would do it to who I'm after. Now, will you help me?"
"I… won't…", was all she could muster out before, like the other two, her eyes went dull. It was silent for a moment, before she continued her response, a complete change in her tone. "… say no to you!"
Ar smirked as he approached further, putting his arm around her shoulder. "Thank you.", he said. "We have some allies to go visit. Scouting around this place can wait. You probably know this place better than I do, anyway…"
After a few minutes, Ar and his newest ally arrived where his other two accomplices were waiting for his return and his orders. "I'm back!", he announced to them. "With a new helper, my friends."
The duo looked up at him as he hummed to himself, excited with how his plan was going swimmingly, even better than it already was at first. "You two have got some good ideas for when we go to find Tee?", he asked, receiving nods from the both of them. "Great! Now we can put this into action…"
… when Tee shows up. He was still not here, and that was the sole spanner in the works ruining the perfect plan. All they really could do was search this town, from top to bottom, and god only knows how long it would take. It could take all day, and by then, he could be stuck in this dimension, far away from his own home. Ugh. But he would not stop at this point, not at all, not at all—
CRASH!
The sound of a vehicle crashing swirved Ar out of his thoughts, as he looked around to see where it came from. Are the people in there ok? Then his eyes rested on the tallest building he could see, and at the top was… no way… is that…?
THE S.S. TETRA! Disregard his question about those inside being ok, he was thrilled to see it here and in a sorry state! That absolutely means that Tee has ended up in his dimension with the rest of his crew that he could care less about! "Yes! YESSS!", he cheered, pacing around in sheer excitement. "Tee is here! Thank goodness… I hope he died in that crash.", he said to himself. Sure, it was a bummer that he couldn't get to Tee himself if so, but he could just dig from the rubble of the crash and regain the title from what remained of the Tetris King. A win win no matter what! But, if he somehow survived the impact, the girls could find him instead and put his original plan into action.
He turned back to the three with the most delightful smile on his face. "I hope you three know what you're doing, because I need you all to go there now!", he commanded. "Tee is here, and he must pay the price…"
In a moment, the three nodded and started to walk away, leaving the man alone. He stood there, not sure what to do, but he smirked anyway. Finally, he could — no, WOULD — reclaim what should've been his the whole time! He was jubilant, exhilarated in the moment! In a few hours, his decades long quest would be over…
"You better watch out, Tee…", he said to himself.
"Because I'm coming for YOU!"
If the Tetris King could take a nap right now, he definitely would take the chance.
Tee's day was nothing less of hectic than the usual routine. It was definitely safe to say that he was not pleased with the Tetra's crash landing to Suzuran and the entire crew getting separated in the process. He was thankful that his new allies were able to help him find them, and as soon as he was able to reunite with him, Ai was already on the case for repairing the ship. Beyond missing a few important parts to let them travel long distances, everything was almost a-OK. Finally, this long day would be over, and this situation would be able to get back to normal…
"I cannot allow that!"
The injection of a voice who wasn't part of this conversation to begin with took Tee back by surprise. Who… was this? What did they mean? Did anyone recognize them? It wasn't long before he learned who it was from one of his newer allies, Amitie.
"There's no way I could mistake that voice!", she said happily. "It could only be… RAFFINA!"
But when this "Raffina" entered the scene, something looked… off. Her eyes were dull, no pupils in sight, and she just gave Tee a feeling of concern. "Silence.", was all she said to her friend.
"This is how it should be. The boundaries will merge. The dimensions will fall. And if you get in my way… I'll kick you. Really, super hard."
Tee was quick to get into a defensive, albeit anxious, stance. His second in command, Ess, was also quick to react to this gesture of aggression. "Who in the heck…!? I hate arrogant, spoiled, stuck-up, selfish girls! BLEH!!", he spat. Tee could only sigh at the irony at display, but that was the least of his concerns at this moment.
"ESS! Do you SEE what we have to deal with now!?", he shouted back at him. "No no no no, guys… this is my friend, Raffina! Ha ha… you can stop this joke now… it's not funny…", Amitie attempted to reassure their worries, but it was all for naught. Something was up, and something was wrong, and they had to stop it before it was too late.
Well, Tee guessed the day would just keep going on from here…
And it was a very, very long day that followed.