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The Shark House - Chapter 23 - The Majorette On Roller Skates

Bayside's history can be traced back to the roaring 20s, in order to avoid prohibition laws a number of gangs used the settlement on the border of Canada on the east coast to smuggle alcohol into the United States, as prohibition ended, a number of engineering companies agreed to collaborate on building secret factories to research and produce prototype cars and aircraft, this would later become a secret airbase during World War Two as both American and Canadian forces agreed to collaborate to stop Nazi invasion in the event of France and the United Kingdom falling; after the war, Bayside was given autonomous status as neither Canada nor America wanted to fund it post war, so Bayside's mayor decided to turn most of the factory land into a giant department store, calling it Gracies after the mayor's daughter Gracia.
Gracies was roughly the size of a modern day market town of approximately 25,000 acres covering most of the main town centre.
For people shopping like Dave, it can take up to half an hour between parking and actually shopping, probably why Dave prefers shopping on the highway loop as each of the eight major stops has a supermarket on it.
Upon arriving at the toy store, Dave was greeted on either side by two large statues of nutcracker soldiers, each of the staff wearing a marching band uniform creating a unique environment that could pass for a traditional children's film; intimidated by the sheer scale of the store, Dave didn't know where to start to find a gift for Joel's new arrival.
The noise of the children was silenced by the loud sound of roller skates approaching Dave, out of the shadows of the plush toy area arrived a girl, dressed in a more elaborate version of the marching band uniform, with long twin tail blonde hair and large circular frame glasses, she was humming a popular children's song.
"I see someone who is lost, I am the manager Alice" She says launching paper streamers from her baton, the spectacle seemed lost on Dave but the children were genuinely happy to see Alice.
"Umm, I need a gift for my bosses new born" Dave sounding clueless in the excitement.
Alice snapped her fingers and a curtain pulled up around her and in a couple of seconds she was wearing Safari Gear.
"Come with me to the forest of bears" Alice threw Dave a foam dart gun and pulled Dave into the plush toys department.
Dave was a little bewildered by everything going on, especially when he could see many of the teddy bear displays turning around and staring with glowing eyes.
This triggered a memory in Dave in how he earned the nickname Dave Dreamer; as a child, Dave would turn the most mundane of normal situations into an adventure, a walk to school felt like a journey to Mordor, a simple trip to the supermarket felt like capturing monsters and a simple game of soccer felt like powered beings in a battle arena; the last fragments of this personality continues in his highway racing career, his garage alone has been compared to an extremely expensive Hot Wheels collection; to meet a girl similar to his age and still have that kind of imagination felt surreal, his more cynical side thought that this Alice girl was just being ultra professional, but if that were true, why put on this act for an adult?
"Head down, I've found the target, prepare the dart gun" Alice arrived at a display of colourful Teddies and looked for a good one, Dave aimed at a multi coloured patchwork bear and fired the foam dart gun.
"Good choice, it's a best seller" Alice threw Dave the teddy bear.
Dave was greeted by Alice's pretty smile, the silence should've felt awkward, yet it felt like time froze for a few minutes and both were checking each other out.
"Hey you're Dave Dreamer right? Can you help me drum up some business? You get a free car out of it" Alice asked innocently.
Dave wondered if there was a catch but Alice just said it's simple advertisement.
Later that evening.
"Dave, what in the hell is this crap!?" Hellcat wondered as Dave turned up in what looked like a life sized Hot Wheels car.
"An electric car as well, did Alice really build this?" Joel sceptical that a toy maker could build a car.
"I know it looks silly but it was free and it drives well for an electric car, other drivers have taken advertising to fund cars, it's not unique" Dave trying to defend the car.
"If I stay here any longer I'm going to die of cringe" Hellcat took off to face her third round opponent Kara Shindo.
"This Highway really isn't built for electric cars so avoid battles and just use.....whatever your car of the week is, free or not, this car will give you more debt in the long run" Joel put his jacket back on and left.
Dave's day felt surreal but not unpleasant as he stared at Alice's phone number on her business card.

The Shark House - Chapter 22 - Dave Dreamer's Dating Disasters

A good two weeks passed since the opening round of the Razzmatazz tournament and Dave was not having the best luck, fives dating misses each with their own level of failure, all this despite Dave reaching the fourth round of the tournament.
At Chaos Engine's winter's end camping meetup, Dave reluctantly reported to Joel and Hellcat his progress.
"Wow, five failures, you really suck at this" Hellcat being really blunt.
"Be nice sis, maybe there's a reason, explain what happened" Joel trying to see a brighter side.
"Sigh, I suppose I should start from the beginning" Dave said.
Date 1 Sasha: She spent all her time quoting things I've never heard of or seen, she also sends three hour YouTube videos of tiktok fails, we have nothing in common.
Date 2 Yukiha: I don't think she leaves the house very often, she over dressed for dinner, is horrible at karaoke and got so wasted on shots she was shouting at a wall for a whole hour and then projectile vomited in my car on the way home.
Date 3 Angelica: Also known as the Windscythe from the Vanishing Lights team, she laughed at me and said she would never date a Shark House deadbeat. (Ouch) I still defeated her so no skin off my back.
Date 4 Geena: Luke recommended I dated Giro's daytime barista, it went okay but then I met her friends and I suddenly felt insignificant.
Date 5 Charlotte: She came to fix my tv stand and was initially interested but, she wants someone stronger than her, so I arm wrestled her and she nearly ripped my hand off.
"That's rough buddy. You could always date Hellcat" Joel tried to lighten the mood.
"He'd fail all of Grandpa's requirements to date any member of the Helkin clan" Hellcat's not interested anyway.
"And you stole my car" Dave not letting that go.
Hellcat just continued cooking up all the fish she caught.
"So what did Steve tell you at Rainbow Saints?" Dave curious of Hellcat's progress at the holiday camp.
"He said to try and shed the safety blankets I rely on too much, he also recommend I take on physio to make my shoulder heal faster, especially when my third round opponent is Dragon Lady Kara Shindo" Hellcat not feeling lucky with her opponent.
"One of the emperors and so soon, I'll ask Grandpa if the RX-8 is available" Joel knew that Kara was bad news.
"Thanks for the support" Hellcat finishes her coke.
"Don't forget Dave, you need a baby shower gift for Joel's new arrival, I'm sure you can find something in Gracie's Toy department" Hellcat reminding Dave of his responsibility.
"I'll do it this weekend, Gracie's is bigger than Milton Keynes" Dave comparing Bayside's landmark department store to a small British town.
The Chaos Engine team continued to enjoy the rest of the evening, Dave didn't know at the time, but he'll soon meet the girl who will change his life forever.

The Shark House - Chapter 21 - Popuri's Full Power

Having helped Jimbo Nix setup the wrestling arena, Popuri seemed suspicious of the lack of actual wrestlers turning up, the only wrestler who did turn up was Lady Carmine.
"Um, Mr Nix, who's actually wrestling tonight?" Popuri having a bad feeling about this.
"Didn't you get the memo? You're wrestling Carmine as your second round match" Nix pointing at Popuri.
Popuri shocked by the sudden announcement, the only thing she knew about wrestling was the odd match that her Uncle Ed watched.
Popuri went to the dressing room to look for a leotard that fits her, at 5ft 9in, she was above average height for a woman, her athletic build consisted of powerful legs from her marathon running and a six pack from all her Ice Hockey training, she would easily pass for a gladiator in the form fitting garment.
Popuri walked towards the arena walking out to the Studiopolis theme from Sonic Mania, while Carmine walked out to Morgan Perry's Flying Forever.
Despite the excited crowd, Popuri was nervous, some were even falling in love with Popuri on seeing her athletic build.
Carmine was only an amateur, but the Italian had done enough matches to be well known in wrestling circles, Carmine was taller, had rich ebony black hair and Mediterranean sun blushed skin, the crowd just as excited for the Italian.
As the bell rang, Carmine wasted no time getting started as she launched off the ropes and tried a drop kick, Popuri immediately catching her foot and swung her around and gets thrown back to her feet, Popuri's eyes glowing yellow and cat like, Popuri tries a hammer arm but Carmine gets behind and suplexes Popuri, Carmine tries an elbow drop to finish but Popuri rolls away, Carmine follows up with another rope launch but this time trying a clothes line, Popuri leans back onto her hands and hand stands grabbing Carmine with her legs from behind and using some force spins Carmine around with her legs before finishing with a frankensteiner, Carmine tries to get up but Popuri has her pinned, Popuri's grip unbreakable as the countdown begins, Popuri declared the winner in a fairly quick match.
"Good job there's more than one match on the bill" Nix with a strained smile on his face.
Back in the lockers, both women meet properly.
"How strong is your grip? Those moves were insane" Carmine asked of Popuri.
"75KG when I last competed in the Winter Games" Popuri showering, she was caught by surprise when Carmine joined her in the shower and she immediately felt Popuri's Six pack, "Fantastica! No wonder I lost"
Popuri blushed from Carmine's direct approach.
After some close female interaction, Popuri tried the grip apparatus to test her grip strength, the results were a surprise to both women as it read 120KG.
Carmine felt lucky that Popuri could control her strength, as her grip strength can rival the strongest power lifters.
"Why can't I just work a normal job where I'm not doing any tournaments?" Popuri bemoans.
Carmine offers her business card.
"I need a temp to do some secretary work at the bike garage, it'll give you a couple weeks off because your next opponent is Shizuka the Defense Secretary and she's waiting on the Smash Zone update" Carmine throws Popuri a helmet offering her a ride home.
Popuri breathing a sigh of relief.

The Shark House - Chapter 20 - The Legend of Slippy Squad

Of all the teams that have graced Bayside, none have been as prolific as the Slippy Squad, a group of eight friends, unassuming at first but they have defeated some of the highest profile gamers in the world and yet after the world championships, they disbanded.
But who are the Slippy Squad?
Starting with Jimbo Nix, an arena promoter who arranges everything from wrestling matches to conventions, he was the team shooter and regular Rocket League player as well as the one who provides training areas for the team, he's stated many times he would only return to tournaments if he plays the games he wants, otherwise he's more than happy to arrange events.
"Alright new girl, we got a wrestling ring to organise, go help arrange the benches and setup the ropes" Nix explains to Popuri who was on her fourth part time job.
Jester of Malice is a hard negotiator who acts as the team treasurer, motivated only by money, he can be trusted to perform well and will pull a victory from the brink if there's enough to achieve at the end of it, going by his actual name Glenn, he runs a car business selling top of the range cars for all the race teams on the Highway, it felt more lucrative than just playing games.
"Gimme a break! You charge that much for Subaru repairs?" Joel not to pleased with Glenn's offer.
"This is an older Subaru, parts aren't cheap and I refuse to acknowledge the gold card until it's in front of me, now pay up!" Joel reluctantly paid the repair bill, a good pay day for Glenn.
Silent Viking doesn't say much but his actions speak way louder, he frequently emerges as MVP, especially against people who keep talking, going by real name Sam, his job is fairly private but is often seen at the axe throwing range.
Dawn was taking out her frustrations on the axe range making all the attendants nervous with her temper and lack of throwing skill. With not a word, Sam arrived and threw nothing but perfect axes making Dawn look incompetent, the fiery blonde was too busy staring at Sam to lose her temper, trying to hide a blush.
Hidden Ace was the powerhouse, built like a fortress and as sharp as a tack, he would sometimes take the lead for the team when needed, going by Rob he's mostly left the gaming world to become a trainer, he's also the only member of Slippy Squad Razzmatazz speaks to regularly. Having been beaten up frequently in practice, Razzmatazz was not finished training, since Smash Zone uses alot of force feedback, he asked Rob to train him.
"Razz, Nero, whatever you want to be called, are you done now?" Rob getting tired of the gamer.
"Not yet, not until I can take a hit from you" As cocky as he was, Razzmatazz did take his training seriously.
Dave Dreamer was the least active member of Slippy Squad, preferring Highway racing to gaming, while he seems like an eaay win, Dave Dreamer can pull a victory on the brink, Sasha was about to find out the hard way.
Sasha danced around the platform avoiding Dave's kendo strikes, she was about to win, when Dave just moved so quickly to escape and struck her off the platform into the water below in an instant, the surprise on the crowds face was plain to see.
Blood Raven is the only member of the team who still plays professional gaming as he is heavily sponsored, a clever talker who can weave a victory against the best, known as Luke he's set to do well in the Razzmatazz tournament.
"Hey Barry, how about you remake that Vampire film you did way back?" Luke referring to Barry's days as a movie star.
"After the way Twitter acts round it, no thanks" Barry reluctant to return to movies.
Ascension Zero was the best player on the team, a phenomenal player with a highly technical mind and great insight into people, even if he doesn't always enjoy being the centre of attention, known by Steve he joined the Rainbow Saints camp as a counsellor.
"Let's see, Zoe Helkin, known as Hellcat, so you need help trying to overcome a shoulder injury as well as some help with confidence" Steve kept his head down looking at his chart as he found it hard to ignore Hellcat's well endowed figure.
The final member of Slippy Squad is the most mysterious, Cerulean Wizard known also as Giro founded the Shark House. Many don't understand Giro's motives, his rating puts him higher ranked than the rest of the team, yet he refuses to go pro despite having enough talent to win many times over.
Those who have fought him have no strategy against him as he's way too unpredictable.
Giro sat down comfortably drinking coffee having decimated his opponent with ease, "that was a nice warm up" a few cracks of muscles and a smiling shadow leaves his opponent terrified.

The Shark House - Chapter 19 - A Normal Day For Chaos Engine

Hellcat did what Barry said and arrived at Shark House the next morning, among the regulars today were Dave who was with Luke, Barry who was having breakfast with Quint and Giro's day time barista Geena; Dave was still half asleep from a brutal night shift, especially when he still had to travel to the docks for his tournament battle.
Hellcat who naturally gets along with any male gave Luke a fist bump while with Dave she made him face plant the table by pushing back his arm.
"Wake up Dreamer! I need to borrow a car while my Subaru is being rebuilt" Hellcat's relationship with Dave Dreamer was more akin to siblings.
"You didn't have to do that! I was awake you know!" This was a pretty normal meeting between Chaos Engine members, usually Dave was on the receiving end.
"Lend me Kingpin, it's the only car that matches my Subaru's speed" Hellcat demanded.
"I just purchased that Ford Focus RS, I was saving it for February" Dave complained.
"Perfect, I'll test drive it for you, thanks" Hellcat pickpocketed the right key then signalled Barry to get ready to leave.
"You know, I think she likes you Dave" Luke sarcastically says.
"If she weren't so reckless with that Subaru, she'd stop asking me to borrow cars" Dave in a grumpy mood.
"What's stopping you from dating her? Probably get more perks with the team dating the leader, not to mention her hidden assets" Luke bluntly states.
"That's just a rumour, Hellcat is more of a guy than most of the team, not really into tomboys" Dave finishing his drink while the rest of the cafe thinks "Is he serious? Does he not know?"
Dave left the cafe to set off to the docks while Hellcat followed Barry to what appeared to be a holiday camp.
"Okay Barry, why are we at the Rainbow Saints camp grounds?" Hellcat said with confusion.
"It's a good site to rehabilitate and rejuvenate, you take everything full speed, you'll benefit from relaxation, it helped me make the stressful jump to the Police Academy" Barry threw Hellcat a brochure.
"At least it has fishing, fine I'll stay for a bit" Hellcat made her way into the grounds, meanwhile Dave arrived at the docks as a woman dropped down from the ship mast to greet him and give him a padded kendo stick.
"About time you showed up, I'm Sasha and I am your opponent" Sasha dancing with her Kendo stick.