The air was filled with pleasant tones and flashing lights as children ran around with smiles on their faces. The sound of small motors could be heard coming from somewhere ahead, as though a dozen lawnmowers were being used at once. A large marquee sign saying "Fun City" was hanging overhead. Reggie and company were standing just inside the entrance looking out over a large arcade. A large variety of games could be seen just from this single vantage point, ranging from single player to multiplayer in a variety of genres.

"What's that sound? It's like a bunch of large flying insects buzzing about." Hyacinth couldn't find the source of the noise and was hoping to never find out.

"That is just the sound of the go carts that are on the other side of the arcade. They are small wheeled vehicles that you can drive around a track." Reggie was pointing to some distant object as he spoke. Hyacinth's expression softened once she knew it wasn't a large bug. "There is also miniature golf, a trampoline park, laser tag, and even a restaurant."

Everyone around them was obviously enjoying themselves. It was the first place the otherworlders had come to where everyone seemed happy. "Is the fact that everyone is smiling not unnerving to any of you?" Tegan seemed rather put off by the atmosphere.

"They are just all enjoying themselves. This room is full of all sorts of games." Reggie handed a small plastic card to each of his companions. "These cards are loaded with credits so you can play any of the games in the arcade. Just tap it onto the top of these devices and it will activate the game for you." Reggie demonstrated by using his card on the nearest game. "Once the game ends, you will be rewarded with tickets, though not all the games award them. Once we are out of game credits, we can redeem the tickets for prizes."

Hyacinth, Tegan, and Nel nodded then slowly dispersed into the arcade. Reggie played the game he had used for the demonstration, which was a type of rhythm game that required hitting various buttons in the right order. He enjoyed it enough to play it a couple more times. He noted how many tickets were won then moved further into the arcade after the others. Tegan was the first one he came across, though she was more than halfway across the arcade. She was enjoying a first person shooter about aliens and was dispatching them with remarkable skill for someone from a place Reggie assumed didn't have video games. He joined her game, which was set up for up to four players, but was killed almost immediately and lost interest.

Nel was currently playing an RPG style dungeon dive game. "That's a fun game. Used to play it all the time when I came here with my mom." Nel dispatched a walking skeleton and mumbled something about being the master of death. Reggie turned to go find Hyacinth but she was already standing right behind him and he almost walked right into her. "Oh, sorry. Didn't realize you were there."

"It's ok. I am not sure what game to play. Would you assist me, please?" Hyacinth seemed slightly embarrassed. Reggie saw her face get slightly red but wasn't sure why.

"Yeah, sure. How about that racing game there? It has room for two players." Reggie gestured to a set of games sitting next to each other with chairs and steering wheels attached. Hyacinth followed him to the games and sat down. Watching Reggie, she imitated his movements to set up the game. "Ok, so the wheel in front of you allows you to steer your car on the screen. The pedal on the floor makes the car go." Hyacinth nodded in understanding then stared at the screen as it began counting down.

Once the countdown hit zero, the race started and Reggie and the other cars took off. Hyacinth slammed the pedal down a second later, having realized the game had started. Reggie made sure she was started then concentrated on his own screen. He ended up taking third place, then looked over to see how Hyacinth was doing. She was currently driving along a wall slightly off the track and in dead last. She was able to recover and continue driving but hit the wall a few more times before finally finishing.

"Hey, not too bad for your first time." Reggie was trying to be supportive but Hyacinth looked devastated. "We can do it again, if you want. Practice makes perfect." Hyacinth seemed to be thinking for a few seconds before restarting the game. Reggie joined in again, too, and soon the race began.

Hyacinth and Reggie played the game several more times until Hyacinth was able to finish the race without running into walls. She was even able to take fifth place. When that race ended, Hyacinth raised both arms high into the air in triumph. "I did it!" A look of pure joy had overtaken her face. Reggie stood up and walked over to another game. He thought that Hyacinth would go off on her own now but she stayed with him for the remainder of the time they spent in the arcade. She joined him in most of the games and seemed happy as Reggie periodically checked on her.

Once Reggie ran out of game credits, he went looking for Tegan and Nel. Tegan was still shooting aliens, but in a different game. "Hey, we were gonna go get some food at the restaurant. Wanna come?"

"Yeah, just let me finish up here and I will meet you there."

It took a minute to find Nel. He had found a much more modern RPG game that rewarded players with physical cards of useful items like swords and armor. It seemed he had been playing there a while as he had a large stack of cards sitting in front of him. "Wanna get some dinner, Nel?"

"I could definitely use some sustenance. These games require a good amount of stamina." Nel grabbed his big stack of cards and followed them to the restaurant. While they were waiting to be seated by the hostess, Tegan showed up looking pretty proud of herself.

"What's that look for? Set a high score or something?" Reggie wanted to know the cause of Tegan's good mood.

"Yes, several, but that's not it. How many tickets have you attained?" Reggie wasn't sure of the exact number since he hadn't checked it since a few games ago.

"Somewhere around a thousand, I think." Except for the racing game, Reggie exclusively played games that awarded tickets. He enjoyed the feeling of accomplishment. "I think you have around the same, Hyacinth."

"Yeah, one thousand and twenty six." Hyacinth had kept track thoroughly as they played games and knew the exact amount.

"I don't know if Nel has many. That game that gives cards probably doesn't award tickets and it seems he was camped there a while based on the number of cards he has there." Nel had been thumbing through his hoard and organizing them by type. He nodded in agreement but didn't pause his efforts. "So then how many do you have, Tegan?" Reggie looked back to Tegan, whose grin was getting even bigger.

"About fifteen thousand. I forgot to check after the last game so I don't have the exact amount." Reggie had lost the ability to form words as his mind attempted to comprehend what he just heard.

"How is that even possible? I...huh? I thought you were mostly playing shooting games and they dont give tickets." Tegan just beamed a smile back at him as he stuttered over his words.

"I was at first, but then I saw that I wasn't earning them so I started playing games that would give them to me. I set the high score and won a jackpot on my second try on the next game and then went around doing the same on as many games as I could find that would give me big prizes." Reggie's mouth was just hanging open. A moment of silence passed between them before he could use words again.

"H-How many high scores did you set?" Reggie was afraid to ask but also needed to know.

"All of them, I think. There may be a few games I missed but I could use a drink so I decided to take a break." Reggie was dumbfounded. Tegan seemed to be an arcade god that took no prisoners as they destroyed high scores everywhere. "Ya know, I think I may have underestimated my ticket count. I hadn't checked for a few games and I won some good jackpots on the last couple of 'em." With that realization, Reggie was thoroughly defeated by the new god of video games. A mere mortal compared to the glorious wonder that was Tegan. "After we get some drinks we should try those go carts you mentioned. I saw them as I passed by that side of the arcade and they looked like a good time."

"Yeah, sure, why not. I wouldn't mind a round of mini golf, either. Though...nevermind." Reggie was momentarily worried about playing mini golf with Tegan. He decided she couldn't possibly be as good at that as she was with the arcade games. He later learned how foolish that assumption was when after dinner and several drinks, Tegan set a course record on not one but all three miniature golf courses at Fun City.

"Ok, let's go race go carts. I am sure I will at least have some advantage there since none of you have any practical driving experience." Reggie was determined to show up Tegan and his single-minded ambition was raging. They joined the line for racing and watched the carts go around the track as they waited.

The line went fairly quickly for how busy it was and soon they were all buckled in and ready to race. Reggie being the only experienced driver proved to be just as advantageous as he thought and was quite securely in the lead. It lasted for all of two laps, until Tegan passed him like a pro driver on one of the curves, taking the inside of the corner with little effort. No one else was able to pass him, but Reggie still felt like he had lost.

After his defeat, Reggie went back to the arcade to use up his remaining credits. Hyacinth was with him again as a show of silent support but Reggie barely noticed her. Once he finished off the credits, he perked up slightly and helped Hyacinth pick games to use her credits on as well as offered tips here and there. By the time she was out of credits, Reggie was mostly back to normal. They set off to redeem their tickets, passing Nel as he continued playing the same RPG game they found him on before dinner.

"I am sure Tegan has like a million tickets now, but I think earning over two thousand is pretty good for an arcade mortal like myself." Reggie and Hyacinth were looking around at the various prizes. Reggie ended up with 2143 tickets, and Hyacinth wasn't far behind with 1978. "Hey, let me know if you are short a few tickets for something you want. I don't mind sharing some of mine." Reggie had offered to add more credits to Hyacinth's card earlier so she could get to 2000 tickets but she declined the offer. The sharing offer was a compromise Hyacinth agreed to after some prodding from Reggie.

They both picked out a few items they liked and walked away content with their choices. Reggie ended up giving a hundred tickets to Hyacinth so she could get the purple stuffed fox she wanted. Just after they had finished their transactions, Tegan walked over seemingly out of credits and ready to collect. "So do I just pick out what I want and bring it up to that counter?"

"Yeah, the prizes are all labeled with how many tickets they cost. Pick what you like and take it to the counter to check out." Reggie explained how it worked and was going to just walk away but Hyacinth spoke up before he got a chance and asked the question he was dreading.

"How many tickets did you end up with, Tegan?" Reggie wanted to run away but knew he couldn't move fast enough.

"The final tally is just over fifty thousand." Tegan said it so casually as though it was nothing. Reggie collapsed to the floor against the wall, the death blow being delivered without mercy from the new god of video games.