At the next stage, high heels and skirts begin to fly past. Keeping with the trend of rising difficulty, these enemies have their own specialties. The heels move more slowly, but they let out circles of lasers that spread throughout the screen. Meanwhile, the skirts move in a wavy, swaying pattern, making them harder to predict and dodge.
Still, you and your rival are both experienced arcade gamers. Both your planes duck and weave as your scores climbed higher. One moment, your points would jump ahead only for Jared to pass it up with a few lucky shots.
At last, you see your chance! Sending your plane into an evasive barrel roll, you zip across the screen, sweeping a wall of enemies in one go. As the next prompt pops up to signal another cleared level, you raise your arms and shout in triumph. "Yeah! Gotcha!"
You notice an odd echo in your voice, though, and not just from your girly pitch. Glancing over, you see Jared with his own arms raised in a copy of your pose. On the screen, a matching set of scores displays 10000.
Realization dawns in both pairs of long-lashed eyes as your smiles turn to frowns. Like a mirror image, you both whirl on each other, your cute noses an inch from touching as the two of you speak at once.
"What the hell!? How'd you get the same score at the same time! Hey, stop copying me!"
Breaking away first, you growl, "Whatever, the next one's not going to be a tie. Let's get on with this."
You read the prompt: Select your footwear and lower body clothing.