Game over
In a dark arcade at the edge of town, a young pig called Hamilton was slamming away at his favorite game ``Pauldron: Light Saga''. It was a co-op adventure game four players could trek through and battle all kinds of mythological threats. Hamilton though was determined to go into the game solo and conquer everything by himself and he was well into it. He went through five of the eight standard stages, fully geared and ready to steamroll the rest of the game. No part of his skill in the game could possibly stop him now.
Just then the arcade cabinet shuts down. Hamilton knew the shutdown command sequence so he could restart his runs quickly, but no way he accidentally hit it now. Regardless, his surefire run was dead no matter how he felt about it.
``...And there goes why I shouldn't keep going to this rundown arcade.'', Hamilton scoffed out. As much as the pig was annoyed with the scenario, the state of the place wasn't so much of a downside when the arcade owner liked him enough to give him a discount. He could come over anytime he want after his college studies. Still, the arcade machine wasn't turning back on so Hamilton started to leave, it was early enough for him turn in for the night and not mess up his sleep schedule so Hamilton resigned to his fate.
Hamilton headed towards the door, checking his phone occasionally. No notable updates, nothing from social media. Just the obvious disappointment from the current situation. The pig sighed as he put away his phone to open the door.
But it was locked.
Hamilton grumbled out, ``Gotta go to the main desk now. Ma'am locked up too early it seems...''. He sighed again as he walked away from the entrance to go talk to the owner.
In his whole time here, Hamilton barely had to talk to the woman that owned the place. Not that he didn't want to, but she was...really flirty with him. Hamilton didn't hate it, just he went from basically being ignored to having a woman in his life complimenting his perfectly round body. Or so she said. He couldn't help but blush as he recounted the last string of complimenting he had to bare. He'd like to avoid it though getting an ego boost for the night wouldn't be the worst thing.
Then the entire arcade blacked out. Hamilton jumped as the familiar atmosphere shifted so harshly. Though the pig calmed down as it was just a blackout. Nothing to worry about for the moment.
A red light sparked up at one of the arcade machines. Hamilton spun around to be presented with a game over screen. He hadn't play that particular machine before so he thought nothing of it. Though more and more machines turned on with their own game over screens. One after the other the rest of the arcade lit up with game over screens. Filling the area with red light and grim pixel art. Hamilton started to get worked up, but he just went through how this could be happening in his head. ``It'd be easier to make them turn on at the same time, so the staggered activation has got to be a deliberate prank...but I was about to leave. All this effort would have been for nothing. What's going on here?'', Hamilton pondered. His thoughts being clouded with the arcade machines getting louder and loud. Sound getting glitched out as well until a deliberate message could be heard.
``Time...two...feast...'', the arcade machines rang out. Hamilton was fully freaked out by now and sprint to the front desk as soon as possible.
Heavy sprinting rang out from Hamilton as he thundered to the front desk where Ms. Zin was. The pig tried to not crash, but the desk quaked as he ran into it waking up the hyena.
``Ugh...Hamilton? What's going on with...'', she trailed off as saw how shaken Hamilton was.
``I don't care what prank you're pulling! You had your fun, just get me out of--'', Hamilton was cut off by the hyena hugging to comfort them.
Ms. Zin sighed as she held the pig close before she spoke. ``Hammy, you literally woke me up. You clearly just spooked yourself during the blackout.''
Hamilton's face got serious. ``Blackout?! Don't you see the arcade being sinister and....'', and much to the pig's dismay, the arcade was shutdown as Ms. Zin said. He could only slump down against the front of the desk as he tried to calm down. Putting his face into his knees as his brain tried to rationalize what happened.
The hyena immediately went to the pig's side and patted his shoulder. ``If you want, ol' Ms. Zin can escort you to the front door. Would you like that?''. Hamilton quietly nodded and walked with Ms. Zin to the entrance.
Hand in hand, Hamilton and Ms. Zin walked towards the entrance of the arcade. He hated that he was absolutely spooked with the hyena leading them, but as Hamilton couldn't stop himself from shaking it was probably for the best. He certainly wasn't in the state to keep an eye on the lady if he wanted. Hamilton just need a break from...whatever he just experienced. As much as he was lamenting, being in Ms. Zin's hands was really comforting. He knew she liked him a lot so her keeping him safe was assured. Not the best taste in his mouth, but Ms. Zin's hand was strong as it carried him to safety. And it wasn't the worst thing in the world. Hell, it was even likeable to the pig.
``Uh, Hammy? We're here.'', Ms. Zin had let Hamilton to the entrance and even opened the door, showing that even she thought it was locked.
Hamilton collected himself as he slowly pulled away from the hyena. ``Sorry, about all this. I got scared real bad and...this is all embarrassing. I'll be better in the future.''
``Hammy, you don't need to be a tough guy around me. I like you cuz you're cute and a major nerd.'', Ms. Zin chuckled as she continued, ``I know if we got together, I'd have the pants in the relationship, so hurry up and confess your love to me~''
Hamilton blushed up hard as he pulled his hand away, fiddling with his fingers nervously. ``...I'll give it some thought. Little unfair to ask me that after all this...No matter how much I appreciate it.'', the pig shuffled out after gently letting go of Ms. Zin's hand.
On the walk to the bus stop, Hamilton could only think of how strong Ms. Zin's hold was. He was nervously gripping at her, but the entire time she was holding back with slightly more strength. To keep his mind at ease. He always thought the hyena's advance was to just get in his pants, but if she genuinely cared about him...Hamilton could barely think of what happened next. He'd just have to take the next proposition seriously. Though if she cared, Ms. Zin would give him the space to calm down. So it was on him to make the next step soon. The pig couldn't help, but blush as he though about the future.
``I guess it's game over for my bachelor life...''
