Chapter 333 - 333. Falling Claws

Asher was holding everything back. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was Louis and Louis was dancing as part of the game. The thing was, he didn't just see Louis dancing by moving his feet to hit the proper arrows on the game floor. No, Louis was moving his hips and arms to match every single action on the screen. It was more than just matching the game arrows on the ground. 

On the opposite side was the challenger trying to stay ahead of Louis. Unfortunately, the challenger was definitely not a practitioner of any martial arts foot work styles. This was the main reason why they were unable to keep up with Louis at all. 

The score continued to go higher and higher with every robotic perfect being read out loud. The opponent on the other side was receiving good and great scores. It was a drastic difference in the score as the song slowed and began to end. 

"Whooohoo, that's another win. Next song, let's go." Louis seemed to be completely in his own world. He was not even caring about the small line of opponents that were starting to line up to play on the competing machines. 

"You really threw me for a loop there. Of all the games. First I find Jackson playing a zombie gun game and now you are a dancing star. Next, I will find Sammy trying to beat the arm wrestling game." The sudden appearance of Asher was enough to bring Louis back to reality. 

"Well, this game is just easy compared to the training. It's just a game. It's nothing." Louis was looking away trying not to admit that he was having a blast. 

"I won't judge too much but dude, you might be setting a world record if you can keep it up." There was a small part of him that believed that Louis would be setting such a world record today. 

"Naaa, the world record is a dance marathon for two days and a few hours straight. I probably won't get the record. But I already have the high score of the machine and probably the arcade." The shrug to this that Louis gave Asher was one that showed he didn't really care too much about the score. 

Before Asher could say anything else the game started to play a small melody and the screen showed another player had joined to take on Louis. "Let's go! Next round." Louis jumped to start the movements that the figure on the screen was doing. Asger knew that he would not be able to play like this and that Louis would be occupied for some time. Especially because there were more people lining up to challenge. 

However, Asher did pull his phone out and take a short video before he left. He wanted to add it to the group's video diary for future reference. It was a small prank that he was sure would come back to get him as soon as he did something embarrassing himself. 

"Hey, Asher. What are you doing wandering around? Can't find a game either?" Sammy had nearly bumped in to Asher as he rounded the corner away from the dance machines. 

"Oh, hey Sammy. I was just leaving Louis to his dance marathon and looking for something that struck me as the game for me." It was true, Asher had yet to find the game that he wanted to play to try and rack up tickets.

"Then you can come with me to the crane games! The prizes all have ticket amounts that come with them. Get a stuffed animal and also whatever ticket number is on it. The tougher to grab the item the more tickets it is worth." Sammy was confident that the two of them would clear out the claw machines without any issue. 

Before Asher could say yes or no he was already being pulled off toward the rows and rows of claw machines. Some of them were simple and had stuffed animals in them. The ticket amounts were taped to them giving them a weird kind of badge. Yet, the claw machines that had other items in them looked even more challenging. 

"Wait, are we going after the ones with watches and stuff in them? I thought you said that we were getting stuffed animals with ticket amounts on them?" Asher was more than confused as Sammy finally stopped at the largest claw machine. "Is that a game system!?" It was all a lot of expensive items taking up a lot of space and showing the incredibly high challenge level. 

"Go big or go home. Now, the tickets on the game system only offer seventy thousand. We need better. We should aim for the cruise trip tickets which have a ticket count of one hundred and twenty thousand. They will take the tickets if we want something else at the stand but to be honest, I wouldn't take any of the prizes. We are better off just asking them to exchange them for more tickets or the cash value. The real fun is seeing the crushing defeat in their eyes when you claim the prize that they thought no one would get." 

Asher was astounded at the change in Sammy's personality. The arcade seemed to be bringing out strange talents and quirks his friends had. The fact that Sammy was so in to the claw game was more than just a game of fun. It was some form of addiction that seemed to take her over. 

"Let's go. This one will be easy. I just need to ignore the mirrors on the other side and look from the top." Sammy started to move the claw towards the oddly shaped ball which held the cruise tickets that would also net them a huge amount of game tickets. 

The strategy she used made her look very odd. Sammy was trying to get as tall as she could to look from the top of the machine. She constantly changed her position and body to see better. When she nearly crawled on top of the machine to see Asher had to step away. It was crazy and he couldn't be involved. 

Surprisingly, when Sammy looked like she was going to start pressing her face to the glass she slammed down on the drop button. The large claw fell and landed in the sandy bottom of the giant claw machine. The audible snap of the metal closing made Ashe think that the claw had grabbed absolutely nothing. 

He was proven wrong when the claw rose to show that it had fallen perfectly in a way to snatch and capture the oddly shaped ball and stop it from slipping from the grasp as it was designed to do. Asher walked back over and looked at Sammy who was pulling out the prize and glancing back at him. 

"See. The look you are making right now is why I like to win these claw games." The small snickering that Sammy made just brought more confusion and wonder. 

"I have no idea how you just did that and I don't think anyone with super powers can copy you. How long until you have cleaned out the whole thing?" This was not a question of if, but a question of when Sammy would clear the machine. 

"Well, I was always good at them. But in the introduction to physics class, I started to understand how the machines worked and why they were so hard. Later when Asher made me take the weather and physics class I got all the answers I needed to use the machine as I want. It's all about how the claw lands and grabs on. If I was over by another few degrees then I would have lost it when the claw closed." 

"I don't think I am even surprised. I can't do that and it would be all luck. But you were amazing. Also, if you win the game system I think Louis would like it for his birthday. He has been borrowing games and stuff from Art." Asher left Sammy to start playing the claw game again. He was not at all surprised to see her lining up the claw with the game system next. 

"Well, at least two people seem to be normal." The reaction was of Cara and Jane playing a ball rolling game. The game required the player to roll the ball down a track where it would leave a ramp. The goal was for the ball to fall in to a hole with points. If the ball missed the high point targets then it would fall in to the single point category. Overall it was a lot of muscle memory and skill. 

"Asher! Come show Jane just how good we were as kinds!" Cara called him forward after noticing him. It was true. When their parents had taken them to a local arcade the two had figured out the skill of getting the hundred point spot over and over. With a smile, Asher placed a token in the machine while he stretched his fingers to play the first round.