THE MOMENT
"... and make the Boardwalk before the rest...," the old man's head lolled to the side. His monocle tumbled off his face and cracked on the concrete while Valentine, Frost, Outbreak, and Nax stood around him. Pedestrians walked by. It was mid-afternoon and the downtown area was crowded due to the beautiful day. But, no one seemed concerned with the well-dressed corpse on the sidewalk surrounded by four teens.
Once the old man was dead, the street and sidewalk changed color. The four teens watched as vivid colors seemed to wash down the road. All the buildings on the next block turned from old, red, rundown brick to brown. A large street sign popped up on the first block. It read: Mediterranean Avenue. A blue chest appeared at the following intersection, then the next block also turned brown with another street sign that read: Baltic Avenue.
"Hey, it's right there!" Nax was the first to notice the blue buildings to their right. He started running towards the sign that read: Boardwalk.
"That's not how you play!" Valentine called out to him. Nax stopped, but it wasn't by choice. He slammed against an invisible wall before he could cross the street to Boardwalk. The moment he hit a large red arrow appeared in the sky pointing the way to Mediterranean Avenue with the word 'GO' in large letters. The three who didn't run laughed at Nax as he rejoined the group rubbing his face.
"This is stupid, it's right there!" he complained. He might not have been so annoyed if not for the fact that the pedestrians were able to reach Boardwalk.
"That's the game," Valentine shrugged. She stuck a closed hand out at him. "But, you can go first," she said.
"Thanks," he accepted the dice she gave him. He gave them a single, half-hearted shake and tossed them on the ground. The white cubes grew to the size of beachballs the moment they left his hand. They settled face up into a two and a one, then a silky black tophat appeared on Nax's head.
"Yay, three," he said with a distinct lack of enthusiasm. He started walking down the block to the brown buildings.
"I'll go," Outbreak decided. The large dice shrunk once she touched them and she gave the pair several solid shakes. A large silver wheelbarrow appeared in front of her when the dice landed on a six and a four. Outbreak grabbed the handles and began to push it; but, she stopped after a few steps and shook her head. She looked at Valentine.
"We can use our character abilities, right?" she asked.
[Nax has purchased Mediterranean Avenue] a deep male voice filled the air with the announcement.
"Yes...?" Valentine nodded. She did not know what Outbreak had in mind and she hoped it wasn't a game-breaking cheat.
"Nice!" Outbreak glowed with a sickly green aura and knelt to touch the ground.
[Skeletal Servant] a deep voice filled the air as a bone hand broke through the concrete. The skeleton climbed out of the ground but he was ignored by the NPC pedestrians.
"I'm not pushing this for 10 blocks," she said. Outbreak hopped into the front of the wheelbarrow and the skeleton took the handles.
"Phew," Valentine giggled at Frost. "Your turn," she said. Frost shook his head.
"Ladies first," he countered. Valentine took a step back.
"No, I have to go last," she said. "It's the curse of being a Corazón."
"Huh?" Frost asked.
"You'll see. Just go," she said.
"Alright," Frost shrugged. He walked to the giant dice and picked them up. He gave them a good shake and tossed the forward. The shrunken dice ballooned again and landed on a three and a four. go-kart-sized battleship appeared in front of him.
[Outbreak is Just Visiting in jail.]
"I should've picked the thimble," he said. Valentine giggled and shoved him toward the metal boat. Frost climbed into the kart and discovered that he needed to push along the ground to move it; and, it didn't have any wheels hidden underneath. He scraped forward once until Valentine spoke up.
"Use your abilities," she reminded him.
"Oh, yeah...," a thin sheet of ice formed under his feet, and the tiny battleship began to slide forward.
"Alright, let's make this fast," Valentine spoke to herself as she picked up the dice. She shook them several times for the fun of it. She knew it was most of the fun that she would get out of this game; but, that was the plan. She was setting them up for the next game. She tossed the dice and began running before they landed. An oversized shoe appeared on her right foot. It made her gait uneven, but she continued running.
[You rolled a Seven! -Notice] the system sent Valentine a private Whisper because she was no longer near the dice. She caught up to Frost and ran past him and Nax.
Valentine stopped running after six blocks. She reached a red floating question mark at an intersection and she felt another Whisper from the system on her wrist.
[Please wait your turn. -Notice]
'Yeah, yeah," Valentine mumbled to herself. Frost picked up speed after she ran past him and he was close behind. "Hurry up!" she yelled at him. Finally, he slid past Oriental Avenue and reached the question mark with her.
"You rolled a seven too?" he asked. She nodded.
[Chance Card: Go Back 3 Spaces]
"Aww man," Frost grumbled. "I didn't know that could hap-," his comment was interrupted by a large wooden crook that yanked him backward by his neck. Once he was gone, Valentine's turn continued.
[Chance Card: Advance to Boardwalk] After a quick flash of light Valentine found herself next to a blue sign that said Boardwalk.
[Winner: Valentine!] Three more flashes of light deposited the rest of the players next to her.
"That's your curse?" Frost asked. Valentine nodded.
"What curse?" Outbreak asked. Valentine shrugged.
"El Corazón usually gets what they want," she said.
"So... why are we playing?" Nax asked.
"I wanted you to get a quick feel for it," Valentine said. "When I play roller derby the nanos know how to counteract my ability." Valentine summoned her slate as she explained. She tapped and swiped at the floating screen and the city dissolved around them. It reformed in an instant with the four of them around an old, dying man again.
This time, the blacktop road was a smooth, gleaming white surface. Valentine appeared to grow slightly taller and Frost glanced down to see the skates on her feet.
"All we have to do is add roller derby to this and it's fair," she said. She closed her hand and began shaking dice that weren't there a moment ago. "I won, I go first."