Side Story: Air Hockey

A few weeks prior…

Standing in the middle of a junkyard, Roy inspected an object built similarly to a table.

"Hm… It's rusty as hell, and most likely not operational…" [Roy]

He held a serious expression for a moment, but it was immediately switched to his usual carefree attitude.

"Eh, whatever. I'll just get someone to fix it up for me." [Roy]

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Ha… Hachoo!" [???]

Sitting at a desk riddled with mechanical parts, there sniffled a man working on his next project.

"Ugh… is someone talking about me?" [???]

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

A few days later…

"Now that the table is fixed, what should I do with it?" [Roy]

Pondering what to do with the object he considered his new toy, an idea came to mind.

"I guess I'll show the kids." [Roy]

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

"Hahaha! And then he-" [Adam]

Interrupting his words, the doorbell rang.

"Huh? Did my sister just finish her shopping?" [Adam]

"It's probably the mailman. Your sister just left the house a few minutes ago." [Felix]

"Oh, so anyway, the guy-" [Adam]

Cutting him off from continuing again, the doorbell rang.

"Damn, that mailman is kinda persistent." [Adam]

"Someone just get the goddamn door!" [Aurora]

Screaming from upstairs, the two boys heard their short elder's voice.

"I'll go get the door…" [Felix]

Leaving the living room, Adam followed Felix to the door.

"Hello?" [Felix]

"Hey, What's u-" [Roy]

After seeing Roy's face, Felix shut the door.

"Uh… Who was it?" [Adam]

"Nobody important." [Felix]

Locking the door, he leaned against the door.

"Hey! C'mon! Let me in!" [Roy]

His muffled voice came through the door, and he began to slam against it.

"You sure it's nobody important?" [Adam]

"Do you really think Roy is important?" [Felix]

"He's someone we know though…" [Adam]

"And?" [Felix]

As the two conversed, Roy started to continuously ring the doorbell.

"Wow, he REALLY doesn't want to give up." [Adam]

Just then, the sound of footsteps came from the stairs.

"Will you guys just open the door! I'm trying to sleep!" [Aurora]

An irritated Aurora had appeared before them, leaving the two no choice but to open the door.

"Fine…" [Felix]

Unlocking the door, he faced Roy who was still pressing the doorbell repeatedly.

"Oh, are you finally letting me in?" [Roy]

"...What do you want?" [Felix]

"Wow, would it hurt to just be a little nicer." [Roy]

"It would hurt my mental state." [Felix]

"Hm, fair enough. Anyways, check out what I got!" [Roy]

Pointing a thumb behind him, he revealed a white table that seemed to be fitted with additional metal configurations.

"What… is that?" [Felix]

"Hold up, lemme see!" [Adam]

Pushing Felix out of the way, Adam peeked his head out the door.

"Woah! What is that?!" [Adam]

"It's called a hockey table. Or… air hockey table? I forgot." [Roy]

"...Never heard of it." [Felix]

"Of course you haven't. It's something that existed before the great collapse." [Roy]

He smiled condescendingly at Felix, as if it was expecting Felix to say that.

("I want to punch him in the face…") [Felix]

"What does it do?" [Adam]

"It's supposed to be a game to play with your friends. By releasing air through the table, two players will try to hit something called a "puck" through the holes on the opposite ends of the table." [Roy]

"...I'm going to need an example." [Adam]

Simply shrugging, Roy walked over to one end of the table.

"I'm going to need a volunteer. Which one of you wants to join?" [Roy]

The two glanced at each other and looked back to Roy. In the end, the two of them put on their shoes and walked out of the house.

"I'll do it." [Adam] [Felix]

The two startled themselves, realizing that they were in sync.

"Uh… how about you guys play rock paper scissors?" [Roy]

"Not a bad idea." [Felix]

As the two began to play, Roy's eyes drifted towards the open front door.

"Huh? Hey, Aurora! Fancy seeing you here!" [Roy]

Smiling brightly, he waved to Aurora at the front door.

"...Hi..." [Aurora]

Returning a shallow wave, Aurora's face turned a bit red.

"Why don't you come out here too? This game can have four players." [Roy]

"I… I'll join-" [Aurora]

Cutting herself off, Aurora realized she was in loungewear.

"I-I'll be right back!" [Aurora]

Running back into the house, she disappeared upstairs.

"Huh, shy as usual I guess." [Roy]

"Alright, I win!" [Adam]

"Damn!" [Felix]

The game concluded, meaning Adam was the volunteer.

"So Adam won?" [Roy]

"Yeah, so how do I play?" [Adam]

"Easy. Take this." [Roy]

He took out a strange disk with a rod sticking out of it, and handed it to Adam.

"What is this?" [Adam]

"It's what you use to hit the puck. It's also called a "striker", or something like that." [Roy]

Flicking a switch on the side, the table whirred to life.

"Huh? This is… air?" [Adam]

He held a hand over the table. Closing his eyes, Adam could feel a breeze coming from the small holes in the table.

"It's to hold up the puck. Check this out." [Roy]

Taking out a small thin disk, he placed it on the table.

"It's… sliding?" [Adam]

"Yep." [Roy]

Without saying another word, he smacked the disk with his own striker and sent it into the hole at Adam's end of the table.

"Score." [???]

As the disk clattered down the hole, a voice came from the table.

"What was that?" [Adam]

"I just scored. I now have one point." [Roy]

"Wait, you scored on me?!" [Adam]

"Well… yeah. That's how the game is played. It's kind of like one of those video games you play on consoles or pcs, but in real life." [Roy]

"You should've said that earlier!" [Adam]

Though he was a bit angry, Adam was beginning to gain interest in the game.

"Where did the puck go?" [Adam]

"Check behind the table. It probably fell down into the hole." [Roy]

Reaching down under the table, Adam fumbled around.

"I don't see it." [Adam]

"That can't be. It's supposed to-" [Roy]

As soon as he let down his guard, Adam placed the puck on the table and hit it into Roy's goal.

"Score." [Table]

"Easy!" [Adam]

"...You sly fox." [Roy]

Due to the tricks played at the beginning of the game, things started to heat up.

"I'm back- what's going on?" [Aurora]

Returning in an outfit Adam had seen within one of his sister's clothing magazines, Aurora stood at the doorway.

"Hey, Aurora. You came back at the right ti-" [Roy]

"Score." [Table]

"Hah! Pay attention next time." [Adam]

"You're supposed to wait! I was talking to Aurora!" [Roy]

Scratching the back of his head, Roy had a troubled look on his face.

"Haa… Felix, take my place." [Roy]

"It's my turn now?" [Felix]

"Yeah." [Roy]

Handing Felix the striker, Roy strolled over to Aurora's side.

"So, care to join them?" [Roy]

He pointed to Felix and Adam, but Aurora shook her head.

"I'll… pass." [Aurora]

"Is that so?" [Roy]

Sitting down by the door, he let out a light sigh.

"Aurora… have you been enjoying your time here?" [Roy]

"I… have. The kids are fun to take care of." [Aurora]

"Not that. I mean how calm it is. Everytime I see it, I just can't help but think about the old days." [Roy]

The red from Aurora's face vanished, and a somewhat mellow expression appeared.

"I suppose we have another thing to protect, right?" [Aurora]

"Hah! I'm going to hope that I don't have to stay up for a week again!" [Roy]