[Synopsis: Player and Veteran are playing a video game together! Dum wants to join in the fun too, but unfortunately, it can only support two players, and Veteran is a bit of a control hog. Maybe there's still a way around the issue though, at least for the time being.]

[Location: Player's house]

____________________________________________________________

"He's almost down, Vet! We just gotta keep hitting 'em for a little longer!"

"AGH, I just died! Parry me, parry me!"

"I gotcha covered!"

"Ah okay, good. Thanks...Man, I usually don't slip up like that."

"Hey, we DID die ten times in the last boss fight, remember?"

"Yeah, but still...I think I'm losin' my touch, Player."

"Aw, come on. You can't win 'em all on the first go, can you? Besides, this game isn't exactly a walk in the park in general"

"Guess not. But still; I'm usually the one reviving YOU."

"Just consider it returning the favor, Veteran," Player said to him. "You've been doing let of the work so far, so-"

"OOOHHHHHHH jeez, the boat just turned into a shark or something, holy crap!"

"Next stage, next stage! Let's keep at it, I think we're almost there!"

"Ohhh, boy, this is gonna be hard."

"Just jump over the bubbles when they get close enough, Vet!"

"Oh God, what's it doing?"

"I dunno, Veteran, just keep your guard up and-"

"WHOA!"

_____________________________________________

YOU DIED!

_____________________________________________

"Oh...So that's what happens when it makes that face," the red crewmate said dryly.

"Dang it!" Veteran exclaimed, plopping the pro Switch controller down next to him and crossing his hands in a huff. "And we almost had 'em, too! Look at the progress bar!"

"Well, if we duck next time, we should be able to keep from getting blasted," Player said to him. "For a first try, I think that was really good though, y'know? You're not losing your touch."

"Hm, well...Thanks, Player. And yeah, it's not like we haven't been through worse than that; the dragon took us what? SEVEN times before we finally took him down?"

"I think it was more like ten."

"Yeah, you might be right."

"What'chu guys doin' in here?"

The third voice came from behind the red and yellow crewmates, her high-pitched, nasally voice immediately recognizable.

"Oh, hey sis," Player greeted, looking behind him to see Dum in the doorway, a curious glint in her visor. "We're just playing the game I bought the other day. Man, I can't believe I waited this long to try it out."

"You guys winning?"

"Eh...Yes and no," Veteran replied to her. "Fights are getting kinda tricky now that we're in the third isle."

"You guys mind if I join in and give you guys a hand?" Dum smiled.

"Sorry, Dum; this game's only two-player."

"Oh...Okay."

"Hey, maybe I could give you a turn with the second controller after we try this round again!" Player suggested. "Veteran, you good with handing it to her for a round or two?"

"What? Dude, no way," the yellow crewmate pouted. "This was s'posed to be just you and me, wasn't it?"

"Yeah I know I said that, but c'mon. She's my sister. Just let her do one or two rounds?"

Veteran grumbled in response and motioned for him to restart the match, making his thoughts on the matter clear. The red crewmate just rolled his eyes and hit the retry button, giving his sister an apoligetic look as they readied for their next attempt.

"It's okay," the pink crewmate shrugged acceptingly, trying not to appear disappointed. "I'll just watch you guys for a bit."

She sat down behind her brother and his best friend and watched them try the fight again...This time, it was back to Player being the one dying most of the time and Veteran continuously reviving him as they both attacked the sea-faring scallywag on the screen in his sentient ship. And one too many slip-ups and missed parries caused them yet another failed round; they hadn't even gotten to the final stage when both of their HP bars depleted to zero.

"UUUUGH, why is this so hard??" Veteran groaned, slumping back into his beanbag chair.

"Veteran, we've only died twice; we already talked about this, remember? It's not that bad."

"Yeah, but I mean, still. We were so close the last time, why couldn't we keep up the same way we did before?"

"I dunno, Vet. Just calm down and-"

Their conversation was interrupted by a loud, obnoxious gurgling noise, catching the attention of everyone in the room...Said noise seemed to have come from the direction of Veteran himself.

"...Was that your stomach?" Dum asked him, eyes wide at just how loud the sound had been.

"Heh heh...Yep. That was me," he confirmed. "Man, we've spent so much time on this, I almost completely forgot about havin' dinner."

With that said, Veteran stood up off of his beanbag chair and stretched himself out, placing his controller down.

"You mind if I head on downstairs and see what the status is on those hot dogs your dad's whippin' up on the grill out front?" he asked. Player nodded in response.

"Well actually, it's bratwurst, but we are having them in buns," the red bean told him. "Go on ahead and see what's up! I'm gettin' kinda hungry myself at this point."

"Alright, I'll be back in a few minutes," Veteran grinned as he opened the door and headed out.

"Take your time Vet, no rush!"

With that, the crowned crewmate was gone, and his footsteps faded into silence as he disappeared down the staircase...leaving Player and his sister behind.

"Knowing him, he probably won't be back until the sausage is done cooking," Dum chuckled.

"Yeah, he loves to watch people cook," Player nodded in agreement. "...Pretty convenient timing."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, since Veteran's not here to hog up the controller..."

Dum's eyes widened, then lit right up when she saw her brother pick up Veteran's controller and hand it to her.

"Oh my gosh, really?!"

"Sure as ever, sis. Have a seat and I'll get us started."

"Oh, um...Player?"

"Yeah?"

"I, uh...You might have to teach me how to do this; I've never played this game before, so..."

"That's okay, Jess. I'll teach you as we go along."

"Okay!"

With that, he booted the round up again. His older sister kicked her legs back and forth in excited anticipation as the battle screen came into view.

_____________________________________________

"This match will get red hot!"

_____________________________________________

Right off the bat, Dum was asking questions, and Player was ready and rearing to answer them.

"Is that us in the bottom left?"

"Yep, that's us."

"Okay, which one of the two characters am I?"

"You're the one in blue."

"And what do I do?"

"Just hold down ZR to fire your attacks, press A to jump over the obstacles and use the directional pad to move and aim."

"Oh, that sounds simple enough!"

"Trust me, sis...This game sounds a lot easier than it actually is."

_____________________________________________

Ready?

_____________________________________________

WALLOP!

_____________________________________________

And the round was on. Dum's first instinct, despite knowing how to fire at the opponent, was to make sure she stayed alive, her eyes shifting across the arena from the bullets flying down from atop the ship to the barrel swigning menacingly at the top of the screen. Player barely even noticed at first, she was doing such a good job of it, though all the while, she kept asking questions about what to do.

"Wait, how are you jumping onto those pink ones?"

"It's for extra points and my super build-up; you just gotta jump and then press jump again once you get close enough to one."

"Do I have to do that right off the bat?"

"If you don't want to, it's okay; just let me dish out the special moves, you focus on staying alive."

"Welp, sounds good to me."

"Oh, yeah. One more thing, Jess; make sure you hit the pirate and not his boat, or else the bullets won't do anything."

"Oh...Whoops."

Once she had another clear shot, she gave it a try.

"Am I doing it right?"

"Yeah, you got it!" the red crewmate cheered. "Heh...Sorry I forgot to mention that earlier."

"Man, there's a lot you gotta do here! How do you-?"

"Oh-watch out, sis, he just whistled. Something's coming."

"What?"

As though to answer her question, something rose from the water in the background.

"AH oh jeez, what is that, a squid!?"

"Watch out for the falling ink!"

Dum let out a few short, sharp screeches as she frantically pressed the directional pad to try and avoid getting hit. Player thought it was a downright miracle that she was only hit by the second to last black bullet, but she didn't seem to think the same.

"Oh no oh no, I got hit!"

"It's okay! You can still take one more hit, it's not that bad!"

"It's not?"

"You kidding me? I thought that was awesome! I wasn't able to dodge like that when I first started out! Wow!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, you did pretty good there!"

"Ha..."

The pink crewmate smiled as her attention turned to the screen again. Player actually thought she was good? She barely had a clue what she was doing in the heat of the moment.

"Ghee, ah...Th-thanks so much, lil' bro."

"No problem. Just do the same thing when he calls it up again!"

"It's gonna happen AGAIN!?"

"Yeah, I hit after he whistles! Just focus on dodging the blows, I'll tell you when!"

"Well, okay..."

The next time it happened, it wasn't as jarring. In fact, it was PLAYER who got hit by the falling projectiles...twice.

"Uh-oh."

"You okay, Player? Your HP bar is flashing red."

"Yeah, if I get hit one more time, I'm toast. You'd have to solo from there unless you can parry me."

"Isn't that the double jump move you mentioned before?"

"Yeah, it-Oop, watch out. Here come the dogfish."

"Dogfish?"

"Get ready to start jumping!"

Before Dum could ask any more questions, said barrage of aggressive-looking fish started emerging from the water and crawling right towards them.

"AH! Oh no! Oh no, Player, what do I do!?"

"Just keep jumpin' over 'em! Once they stop, give the guy another dose of bullets!"

"Okay, I'll try!"

They were both lucky enough to make it through the attack unscathed, Dum still in a bit of a panic the whole time. Player was amazed by just how long she was lasting; when he and Veteran first started out, they would get smashed to bits at least two or three times before getting anywhere near the end of the battle.

"OH, oh jeez, was that a cannonball!?!"

"Yup! Yup, keep an eye on the boat; it'll spit them out every few seconds now that we're in the thick of the fight."

"Wow...I-I didn't expect to be able to do this that well, considering how much you have to keep track of!"

"You're doing great, sis! Maybe I can convince Veteran to-AHH!"

In the moment he was distracted while talking to his sister, the barrel swinging above them suddenly hurdled downwards and right on top of Player's character, reducing it to a depressed-looking ghost that slowly began to float up and away from the fight. Immediately, Dum lost her cool.

"OH NO, OH NO, DID YOU DIE!?!?!"

"Yeah, I did-"

"WHAT DO I DO, I CAN'T FINISH THIS WITHOUT YOU!!"

"Calm down, it's okay, Jess! I...There IS something you can do if you're able!"

"What is it!? Tell me what it is, you're floating away!"

"Remember the parry move I told you about before?" the red crewmate replied. "Do it to my ghost, but you gotta hurry before you can't reach me!!"

"Okay, okay, I'll try!"

Hands shaking, Dum ran towards her brother's ghost, jumped once, then hit the button again midair and parried the spirit JUST a split second before it would be out of reach, while ALSO avoiding an oncoming shark attack from behind in the process.

In an instant, Player was back on the field, alive and with full health.

"WHOA! Ha HA, ya did it, Jess! That was amazing!"

"I did!? I ACTUALLY DID IT!?!"

"Yeah, ya did! Now let's keep at it!"

"Wow, ha...! How much longer do we have!?"

"I dunno, Jess, just stay on your-"

It was at that moment the enemy ship suddenly opened up its gaping jaws, looking all the more threatening.

"Ohhh, this is the last stage, Jess! We're almost there! Now watch out for the bubbles!"

"What do those do!?"

"They move in circles coming at you, so be careful about dodging them!"

She did as instructed, and the two siblings went at it...Dum wasn't quite as lucky with her dodges that go around as she was with her last, and it came as no surprise to Player that this particularly difficult phase of the fight cost her the two remaining HP she had left. For a split second, he debated on whether to save her ghost and keep her in the game or duck beneath the massive laser the enemy ship was about to fire. But at the last moment, he opted to get Dum back in the ring, double jumping onto the ghost just in time...And once he did, he voiced his concerns.

"Duck, DUCK! Press the down button!"

"Whoa, oh jeez-!"

She pushed it just in time to dodge the laser that fired from the boat's menacing mouth, still firing at it all the while. Her visor widened; with a move like that, she half expected to be completely disintegrated had she been hit.

"HOLY MOLY, that was insane."

"We're almost in the clear now!" Player said to her. "Now watch THIS!"

After another few seconds of firing, Player pushed a couple different buttons on his controller, then all of a sudden, his character jumped up into the air and shot a devastating geyser of liquid from its head towards the enemy.

"WHOA, Player, how'd you do that!?!"

"I just pressed X; I don't use mine a lot, but it dishes out a ton of damage. Though the thing is that you need to parry a lot of things before you can use your EX move. Sorry about that, Jess."

"Ohhhh. Well, that's okay. Judging by what I saw when you and Veteran tried this the last time, I think this is up to the point where you almost-"

_____________________________________________

KNOCKOUT!!

_____________________________________________

The word flashed across the screen swiftly and suddenly, and both players were still standing.

"Whoa, what!? D-did we beat 'em!?"

"Yeah, sis, we did it!!"

"Oh my gosh, WE ACTUALLY DID IT!!"

The two siblings hopped up from where they were seated and proceeded to jump around one another, shimmying out an energetic victory dance all the while.

"I can't believe it, I thought I was gonna mess the whole thing up!" Dum exclaimed, sporting the biggest smile Player had seen on her in quite some time.

"Man, you were awesome!"

"I was, really!?!"

"Yeah! Ha! Ah...Phew...! Ah boy, I just hope Veteran doesn't have a problem with-"

"Hey, whoa whoa!! What happened while I was gone!?!"

The familiar, rough voice of the crewmate in question sounded off from behind them, and the red and pink figures turned to face the crowned figure. He was holding a half-eaten bratwurst in his hand, slathered with sauerkraut and brown mustard, and he wore a slightly bewildered expression on his face.

"Oh. Uh...Hey, Veteran, welcome back!" Player greeted him, sporting a slightly nervous grin. "Jess and I were just playin' around, is all, nothing much."

Veteran peered behind them, taking a gander at the scoreboard screen displayed across Player's TV.

"...Did you give her the controls?"

Player groaned at him in frustration.

"Yes, Veteran, I let her try it out while you were gone."

"...And you guys got a B+?" he added, eyes widening.

Player and Dum both looked back at the screen to see their results. Sure enough, it was the score Veteran had told them.

"Yeah, I guess so," the red bean shrugged. "So yeah, I let her play the game. She's my sister, Veteran; just because something is s'posed to be for you and I to do together doesn't mean she can't join in too."

"Huh, what? Oh nah, man, I ain't mad about that anymore," Veteran assured him. "If anything, I'm pretty impressed. It took us almost the entire first isle until we started getting scores close to A's. If she can do that on her first try? Pfftch...WOW. That's some serious raw talent. Take it from a pro gamer."

"Wait, really?" Dum chimed in. "I-I mean, uh...Eh. You know how it is. I just have the magic touch."

"Seems that way," Veteran nodded. "Hm...Y' know somethin, I wouldn't mind watching you two go at it for another fight or two. Heck, if you're alright with it, I might like to see how well she fares alongside me, Player. Switch it up every so often...pun intended."

"Oh, cool! Sure thing, Vet, that sounds like a great idea!"

"Thanks, Veteran!" the pink crewmate beamed.

"Yeah, no problem; sorry I whined about you earlier, Dum. I get like that when my stomach's runnin' on empty."

"Aw, it's okay."

"Just lemme run back downstairs and fetch your dogs; your parents asked me if I could give 'em to you when they were done. BRB!"

With that, Veteran turned tail and headed back down the stairs.

"Thanks so much, Veteran!" Dum called out to him one more time. "Ooh, and don't forget the relish on mine!"

____________________________________________________________

...

____________________________________________________________

July 1st, 2022

____________________________________________________________

...

____________________________________________________________

"Hey, sis!"

"Hm?"

Dum looked up from her phone to see Player and Veteran coming in through her open bedroom door, each with a smile on their face.

"What's up, guys? Ya look pretty happy!"

"You remember that time I let you borrow Veteran's controller when we played that game back in March?"

"Oh yeah, I remember that. What about it?"

"The DLC just came out yesterday; we downloaded it this morning," Veteran chimed in. "There's a new side story, a new isle to explore, new items, and uh...Uhhh...What was the last thing, Player? The important one?"

Player facepalmed, sliding his hand down his visor a bit before shooting Veteran an unamused glare. Sure, it might not be his fault he had the memory of a goldfish, but it could grate on his nerves at times.

"They added in a new playable character; all three of us can play at the same time now!" A the red bean announced himself. "So, well, we wanted to know if you'd want to join us this evening."

"Yeah, we were gonna play it with Captain, but he's havin' dinner at his mother's tonight, so he couldn't make it," Veteran added. "So you wanna fill in for him?"

Dum gasped loudly and sprang right off her bed.

"Boy, would I!" she exclaimed, giddy as ever. "I just hope I'm still up to speed; it's been a little while since we last played. But I think I still remember the basics!"

"Awesome! Now c'mon, sis, let's give it a go!"

With that, she followed Player and Veteran to the former's room, ready to play...This was going to be a fun night.

____________________________________________________________ 

to those of you who couldn't figure out what game they're playing, then take this precious mug i drew, you deserve it for all the trouble i put you through.

(also, if anyone can correct me on the switch controls for the game, tell me bc i haven't played it and might have gotten a few things wrong, oof 😵‍💫)

i'm sorry this took so long to publish, okie bye. ^^;