Not seeing his best mate anywhere, he thought to himself, "Maybe I missed him," as he listened to the noises of the arcade and wondered if maybe he should try looking outside the arcade for Andrew.
Several coin-operated cabinet-housed games catching his attention, he wandered over and watching several kids play a game he'd never heard of, "Altered You, Altered Universe," he mulled over whether trying to find Andrew in the mall was feasible, as the mall wasn't exactly small, it took up several blocks and was three stories tall, or if maybe he should wait a bit longer before heading home to phone his best mate. Wandering away from the video games, Dylan looked at the various options, more cabinet games, table-top games such as air-hockey, craw-grabber games, prizes that came from vending machines, a back room for private parties and video viewings, and wandering up to the front, he purchased a pre-paid card with ten dollars on it, deciding he'd wait a bit longer before going home and whilst he waited, he'd try a couple of the games.
The problem was, he didn't recognize any of the titles. There was a dance machine, but it didn't feature "Dance, Dance, Revolution". Rather, it had some title called "Dance to a Desired Look," which he thought was an odd title. The cabinet video games didn't have "Mortal Kombat" or "Killer Instinct" or "Mario" or "Donkey Kong" but had, in addition to the one he seen previous, "Fighter...You" "Choose Your Own Adventure" one that looked suspiciously like "Jumanji" and wasn't labelled, and "Pastel Equine Fighters". The table-top games looked interesting, as they featured 3D holographic displays, something Dylan did know was possible, but the problem was that all of them were in use and the people who were using them looked like they were zoned out and wasted.
Distrustful as to why they appeared so, starting to notice that it wasn't only limited to the users of the table-top games, Dylan briefly thought that maybe there was something wrong with the arcade. His mind flashing to the seizure warnings that were on some of the PS4, Nintendo, and Xbox 360 games he had at home, he slowly made his way toward the claw-grabbers, thinking that maybe having purchased a ten dollar pre-paid card hadn't been such a good idea. Peering into the machines, half expecting to see really weird and exotic prizes, Dylan found he was only half right. Most of the prizes appeared to be normal looking. Stuffed animals, shirts, rings, iPods, toy whistles, necklaces the usual. But there was also things that seemed weird mixed in. Things like rubber bones, rubber mice, what he thought looked like a sex toy, something that looked like it might be a jade elephant, a pacifier, and various dog and cat collars, among other things. Grasping the joy-stick, he moved it about and finding it moved easily, he studied the claw, wondering if it was rigged like other claw-grabbers, making it maddeningly difficult to win any sort of prize.
Unsure about how hard or easy it might be to win at the machine, he pulled out the pre-paid card. Seeing the swipe, he thought about using it on the claw-grabber, as none of the other games in the arcade really seemed interesting. Turning away from the claw-grabber games, he decided that first he was going to have another look about to see if he could find Andrew and starting to wander, paying close attention to people, he began searching once again for his best mate. As he did, he noticed more and more the way people looked and muttering, "There must be something, off, about the games," Dylan found himself wanting to leave, but rationed that before he did, he would make sure Andrew wasn't in the arcade and that he, Dylan, would at least use up the pre-paid card he'd purchased.
Some time later, he once again stood before the claw-grabbers. Looking about, disappointed that the only place he couldn't look was the back rooms, which required a rented pass-card, he huffed in frustration. Unless Andrew was in one of the back rooms, Dylan was certain that his best mate wasn't in the arcade. Turning and peering into the machine, thinking the prizes seemed the most normal, he suppressed a shudder, as something about "The All Time Arcade" didn't seem right. Wanting to leave, but at the same time thinking it would be a waste of money if he didn't at least spend some of the money on the pre-paid card, Dylan pulled the piece of plastic from his pocket and after looking at the prizes, deciding he'd try to win an iPod. Swiping the card, he noted that it credited him with one dollar for one play and grasping the joy-stick, he began moving the claw into position. When he was certain it was above the prize he was after, he pressed the red button in the middle of the joy-stick and watched as the claw dropped down.
Much to his annoyance, the thing didn't even properly grab the prize he was after. Instead, the thing dropped, closed partially, then slowly raised about half-way before zipping back to the starting position. Frustrated, even though he'd been expecting this, Dylan decided that he wasn't going to get an iPod and moving to the next claw-grabber, he inspected the prizes. Three machines down, he decided that, if anything, he'd try to get a stuffed animal. "Maybe just to give to the first kid I see," Dylan thought as he swiped the card and was credited fifty cents.
This time, the claw actually worked properly, but didn't hold onto the prize, a plush purple unicorn, long enough to drag it to the drop-slot. Swiping again, figuring he could win, Dylan tried again, mentally calculating his odds of winning and how much he might have to spend before either giving up or actually winning. Four swipes later, his card now down to six dollars, Dylan grinned when the claw finally snagged the plush properly and started to pull it up, but started to frown when it slowed. Thinking the damn thing had broken, he was about to slam his hand against the front of the machine when the claw-grabber made a slight groaning noise then zipped across the machine, holding not only the 13inch purple unicorn, but also a rolled-up shirt that had become snagged because the rubber band was hooked to the tip.
"Double prizes, cool," Dylan mumbled excitedly and forgetting that he was planning on giving away his winnings, he watched as the claw open up and the plush dropped into the slot, knocking the shirt in as well in the process.
The pre-paid card going back into his pocket, Dylan reached down and pushed on the flap. Pulling out the plush unicorn first, he thought the thing looked rather silly. Its lips were dark purple and gave the creature a look like it had been sucking down grape Kool-aid. The tail and mane were a dark blue, with a stripe of light purple and pink going down the middle. While the eyes, which were a shade of medium purple, Dylan thought looked the most ridiculous, as they were really large and had a slight almond-shape to them. Shrugging, thinking he'd still give it away, he reached into the slot and pulled out the other prize. Removing the rubber band, curious to know what sort of shirt it was, he unrolled the garment and instant groaned.
It wasn't a shirt he'd won. Rather, it was a white, short-sleeve body suit with the image of a gitterly, silver, Unicorn printed on the front. The crotch had two snaps and, if he had to guess, Dylan though the thing would look like the wearer was wearing a t-shirt. Peeking at the tag, which stated the size was XS, he wondered what he was to do with it, as he had no siblings, no cousins and Andrew's sister certainly could wear it, as Dylan figured it was meant for a five-year-old girl. Thinking of leaving both prizes, he instead rolled up the bodysuit, put the rubber band back around it and tucking the plush under his arm, feeling frustrated by what he'd won, he muttered, "To hell with it. And to hell with Andrew," before storming across the arcade and out the door, still at a lost as to what to do with his double winnings.