Press Start [Kevin/Cecil]

"Hold on, one moment!" Blasting away his current opponent with a line of force, Cecil dashes over and starts battering the Vapor with longer ranged attacks. "Bottom button does Valour attacks - the numbers. Raises your Valour, takes theirs from them. Left button for your Life attack - that'll use up your Valour to actually hurt them, like this!" As the Leo he was fighting rushes in, he calls up a massive tornado and ends with a crash of lightning that takes out a chunk of their health. "Try and hit them into walls if you can, you can hit them off again with something else to deal more damage!"

At that moment, a wave of swords crashes into Cecil's character, rendering him unable to act as he arcs up and back to the ground. "Dammit!" Their team's Shining Champion comes in to engage the responsible Aquon, but for a moment, Kevin's left to deal with the remaining members of the other team by himself.

"Okay, got it!" Kevin said as he made Pipa charge for the Leo that hurt them. "Don't hurt my friend!" he shouted as he valor attacked the Leo which is a flurry of combo punches and a kick that sent Leo to the wall. Pipa followed up a life attack which is a roundhouse that sent him back to the wall again and took the a quarter of his health. "Boo yeah! Take that!" Kevin is clearly enjoying the game. The fast paced battle of this games makes his adrenaline rush through his blood vessels. It was a good feeling and he never felt this good before. So, he can't help but to shout out this enjoyment.

"Nice." Kevin was handling himself well enough, which meant it was time for him to get back into the swing of things.
He charged in, and couldn't help but grin as he saw the entire enemy team lock onto their Shining Champion. "Perfect." Playing dangerously, but he would assume their other teammate knew what they were doing if they were pulling a stunt like that.
He started tearing into the members of the other team while their cameras and attacks were forced onto the pair's ally, until a flash of light called a giant crystal to the area. "Kevin! Need you to beat up that crystal! Good reason for it, trust me!" Another tornado and crash of lightning slammed into half the other team, taking out their Leo for a moment and claiming the first stock for themselves.

"Roger that" Kevin replied then, charged for the giant crystal Cecil mentioned. He is curious what is this crystal for but, he wouldn't know until he breaks it. However, the Vapor noticed that the Pipa was heading for the crystal so he also went for it then tried to valour attack the Pipa along the way. Unfortunately, Kevin managed to dodge the attack that left Vapor open for attack which was also dodged. Oh ho, some competition. Kevin is fired up. He has to fight for the crystal now. Kevin tried to do what he did to that Leo, but the Vapor is good at dodge and so is Kevin. They were dodging each other's attacks that nothing is happening at all.

So, Pipa used her magic to send 4 dark orbs going for him. Kevin knew it would be dodged so he made Pipa charged for the Vapor as Pipa casted the spell. Of course, Vapor dodged the four flying orbs easily and that is when Pipa did a valour attack on Vapor mid-air that caught him off-guard. Then, the combo went pretty smoothly and sent the Vapor far away enough from the orb. So, Kevin didn't take anymore chances and broke the crystal.

Dropping the Leo was perhaps, not the best idea. Cecil quickly found out that out as a searing line of fire cut into him while he was mid-attack, taking out the last of his health and giving the rest of the enemy team free reign for a few precious seconds as the forced lock-on finally wore off. Shining was getting low on health by the time he was able to respawn.
As the crystal smashed though, he saw a bar on the screen finally fill up.
"Right! See that big glowing button in the middle? Hold that down when you get a safe moment." He went into the fray again to free up the Champion. Really needed everyone available for this.

"Okay, got it!". Kevin didn't actually know what he mean by safe moment. But, he thinks that it would be that moment when there is no enemy targeting him. Also, Kevin doesn't know what the button does, so he is curious for what it is. Looking back at the status of his character, he has half of his health left and the a small below it is glowing like crazy. As far as his knowledge about fighting games goes, when that kind of bar is glowing it means a special attack can be performed. Maybe, pressing the button will activate Pipa's special attack. And yes, special attacks can be dodged sometimes which is unfortunate. Now, Kevin understands why he needs Pipa to be in a safe place to press the button.

As the Vapor charged in for the attack recklessly, Pipa dodged the attack easily and followed up with a kick that floored the Vapor. She then combo-ed him with a flurry of kicks and punches that chewed on his bravery so quick that it broke, giving Pipa some good valour boost. Now, Pipa has enough valor to finish him up. Pipa kicked the Vapor up to the air and charged up to him with a powered punch. Unfortunately, Kevin thought that he dispatched one of the enemies when he noticed that Cecil respawned after dying from the Leo. So, there are lives in this games.

Anyways, Pipa is now safe to do her "special attack". So, Kevin took Pipa near to the battlefield, but kept a safe distance between it. Kevin pressed the button in the middle, only to discover that. Pipa was channeling an attack because of the bar that's filling up, which must be a timer. The move is gonna summon Ifrit and it is filling so slowly, someone might interrupt her before she can complete it. "Cecil, cover me!"

"No need." He was free, and their Shining Champion had already kicked up their summon - he could see animation.
"Time to have some fun."

He hits the centre button, kicking up the animation-
Only for the bar to fill instantly.

A cinematic cuts in featuring Pipa on the ground at the centre of a summoning circle.
"Turn up the heat on them!"

A demonic form swathed in flame is shown in the air, crashing down and calling an inferno with its impact before roaring out.
And then, it cuts back to gameplay, with this giant hellish creature charging about and calling fire everywhere.
"It can't hurt you, just take the chance to beat the crap out of them!" He and the Champion go on the offensive, flinging Valour attacks and raising hell as the opposition attempt to avoid the Ifrit...and sometimes fail. Every blow from the creature causes their Valour to plummet, and after taking the chance to shatter the Valour of the Vapor and force it into recovery, a crash of thunder takes out the Aquon. "Come on, one more!"

"Chew on this!" Kevin turned his hat around, to signify that he is getting more serious about the game. He made the Pipa dashed across the battlefield and peppered the defenseless Vapor with punches and ends with a kick that sent him to the geyser of fire made by Ifrit. This gave Pipa the opportunity to finish him off with a roundhouse kick that chewed off the rest of his health, giving their team the third knockout.

The knockout granted them victory. The screen transitioned into the three characters doing their victory poses as the Victory! sign faded into the game screen. The victory bgm lifted Kevin's spirit, giving a feeling of fulfillment. It was his first fighting game and he won. "We did it Cecile!" Kevin rejoiced. A smile was evident from his face and he was just jumping im joy, celebrating his first victory.

Cecil grins and turns to Kevin as his friend is practically jumping for joy. The joy is almost infectious, and he can't help but just laugh. "Nice one!" The moment felt great, revelling in their victory. "Planning to find another game to show people up with on your first time? You're doing pretty well!"

After that feeling of victory, Kevin felt tired all of a sudden. The game felt like a war that went on for years and all he wants to do now is to rest. "No, I think I had enough" Kevin answered standing up from his machine. "I had a great day today, Cecil. I mean that. I never played with a friend before. Heck, I can't even play with my father" Kevin smiled. "You made me experience something new in my life today and I am just glad to have you as a friend" Kevin can't help to be sentimental because he appreciates Cecil that much.

"Anyhoo, I am going home. Wanna walk home together?" Kevin asked. Either way, Kevin leaves the arcade with or without Cecil but still, he will still have a smile plastered on his face.

~Exit

Cecil's smile dips a little. His dad cared from what he could remember, he wasn't so worried about that, but...it was a little sad they couldn't share those experiences with him.
Still, it felt good that he could do something like that for Kevin. And, well..."I had fun too. I don't really have a lot of people I can do things like this with." First Kats, then Kevin...things really were starting to look up.

He nods as Kevin announces his intentions. "Sounds good to me."
The blond was smiling just as wide.