claw bandit final part

Invader

ACME
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3
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findcarmen.com
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The kid, laundry room ghost.
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Claw bandit finale

Carmen was quite surprised, she was not expecting ACME'S own foundling to be the claw bandit. Curiously they wondered what they did with all the winnings. They left out a soft chuckle, and hoped they were not too put off.

"You are the ones running the claw game."Invader replied impressed.
"So care for a good challenge?" Carmen chimed in.
"What are the stakes?" Invader replied intrigued.
"Well there shall be nothing of great value, involved." Carmen proposed.
"How about the looser buys lunch for the two of us?" Invader offered.
"A bit classic, but I want more than that." Carmen hinted.
"How about the claw game itself?" Invader countered.
"Double or nothing?" Carmen smirked.
"Deal" Invader said, wondering what she had gotten herself into.
"Very well then." Carmen smiled.
"Con toss to see who goes first? " Invader mused.


Carmen just smirked, she had home team advantage, this would be good. However in the spirit of fairness, they did a coin toss. Carmen called heads, and as luck would have it , the coin landed on tails. Invader got the first turn and went for something easy at first but changed her mind at the last moment. The claw barely hung onto it, but made it in the end. Carmen in turn went for something easy, to secure her first win. Invader in turn decided to use the rake and grab method, managing a two in one.

"I see you are a bit skilled." Carmen taunted hoping to fluster them.
"The question is can you match me." They shot back.

With that Carmen went for a large plush and managed to win it.

"You are good as well." Invader replied with a smile.
"So how far do we go with this?" Carmen mused.
"We shall empty it." Invader shot back.

The two of them carried on, Carmen almost admitted she was having fun in all of this. When was the last time they had a low stakes game? The two of them went on till, one plush slipped out and got caught by the tag.

"You can shake the machine." Carmen chimed in.
"Not fair play in my book." Invader replied.
"I see." Carmen mused, this could make things interesting.
"No sense in wasting a play on it."Invader continued.

Carmen just sat back and watched, as they grabbed another plush. When it landed it managed to dislodge the one that was stuck. At the end of it things seemed to be at a tie, neither one had really won. Both had played well, and for once Invader had a slight smile.

"So call it a draw?" Invader asked.
"What do you do with all of them?"Caremn inquired.
"Halloween goodie bags, good for PR." Invader answered with a smile.
"How long do you plan for that?" She inquired.
"About a year in advance." Invader explained.

Carmen paused at that, perhaps they had a little in common, though they would not admit it. Although they wondered, how well they would play when the stakes were higher. Things looked promising now, but they would have to wait and see.

"So how about another coin toss?" She asked breaking the scilence.
"Not today, I am gonna take my winnings and run". Invader said. "I had a most wonderful time."
"I insist." Carmen coaxed.
"Very well." Invader relented.
A coin toss was made once again, in fell on heads this time. Carmen had switched to tails for this coin toss. The game was lost, not a large loss but a loss nonetheless. Invader did not seem entirely thrilled, at how chance played out.

"Aww I would miss this, claw game not being here." Invader sighed.
Carmen was not expecting this, they had won by chance and were willing to let it go.

"I think of it as a rare butterfly, a thrill to hold for a moment, something so rare." Invader mused a bit. "I cant bring myself to keep something like that captive, safe from harm , but not free."

Carmen relaxed a bit, this was shifting their perspective, Invader seemed to have a thrill of the chase. Although they saw it was enough, to hold something rare for a moment, and just that. To know it existed, and was alive, and would likely never be seen again. However all they would have is a story, nothing more, no way to prove what happened.

"How about lunch then?" Carmen offered.
"Your choice." Invader said packing plush into a bag. "I have my wins and that is all that matters."

Carmen plucked the bag from Invader setting it aside for the time being. Invader was a little perplexed but said nothing at the moment. Carmen lowered herself a bit, reaching out and touching invaders shoulder.

"You have told me a lot about yourself today." Carmen noted.
"I am an easy read, not much there." Invader said eyes downcast.
"Don't downplay yourself so much." Carmen instructed. "You have skill,despite shortcomings, and obstacles."
Invader looked up for once, and saw a hint of a smile, a warm inviting one. Though they felt as though they were looking at a tigress. Intriguing, lovely, yet a hint of power that one dare not look away from.

"Thank you.." They barely got out.
"I thank you for a wonderful game." Carmen smirked.


Invader let out a small laugh, then instantly got quiet.


"It was nothing." Invader said rubbing the back of her head.
"lets play again sometime shall we?" Carmen intoned, she admitted it was good to hear them laugh again.


Lunch was at a quiet seaside cafe, they were outside, near the harbor. It was late afternoon, the place was very quiet. The sound of the waves was soft, and out in the distance ,was the sound of ships. The day was coming to a close too soon, but they almost wished they could linger for just a little bit longer. Here without a care in the world, a short pause before the chase began again.

The next day Invader went to where the arcade should be, but everything was gone as if it never were. Had it all been a dream, a made up story , that existed in another time. Invader went back to headquarters, there was a large box waiting for them in the basement room. Carefully they unwrapped it, inside was the claw game and picture from Carmen.

A note read, "Hone your skills, till next we meet."

They smiled in secret, though who would believe such a story?

The end.
 

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This was... adorable.

(Also, TiL that there are techniques to grabbing plushies. What would you call getting the claw stuck on the display in the back? I'm good at that. )
 
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A great end to a great story, Invader. Hopefully, this means all of us at ACME get a chance to play this game, now, too.
 

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    I even have the site white listed, for a wild shot can any of you post a new question in the guessing game I had set up
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    ((OOC: So, I am still here (at least, while ACP is still a thing, then I have to tether my phone to my laptop, send it's internet to Ethernet to my router and setup my other laptop to access that... I managed it once totally by accident)... updating stuff I'm working on is not a fun process (if anyone checks my stories folder on my Google Drive) anymore... the laptop at my desk is old (Core 2 Duo, 2Ghz, 4 gigs RAM, Win7 Ultimate)... Chrome won't update, Drive won't work... I'm stuck using FreeFileSync to keep stuff up to datep things synced. I have plans of getting a job and having money to have something better (a doorstop is better)
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    [continuing] I'm sorry if any of my posts are/could be inflammatory or anything... some of them are stuff I've had in the pipeline for a while, and I messed with it enough to get it postable... that's why there are dates showing when I started working on stuff... I'm not, and never have been, trying to step on anyone's toes or say "this is how it should be"... I have no say here, not sure who does these days (like I posted... maybe this is a test to see if we devolve into chaos). Posts like Hierarchy were started long ago, and meant as a guideline and not because I'm the voice of Sauron.
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    [continuing] I don't have the time to be here a whole lot, I don't have much beyond mom to help with my rent (and once I have a job, that'll take up more time, though I will keep working on stuff (both for here and not) as often as possible, and post when possible on here. I have a question that needs some clarification... being that we are supposed to get permission from the person if we use their character in an addition/story/post, how would that apply if the character is core to the universe (like Carmen... I can replace @Chase, maybe cobble someone into @Ivy's place... but, like @Carmen, being that she's a major character, as long as I don't have her acting or write a major part for her, would that circumvent the rule at all?
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    [continuing] I'm just curious... the absence of the major's leaves a gap that I'm not sure what to do with anything... we (the Left Behind) could do a story together (or some stories separate), and that'd be cool, but without being able to use any major's, I'm not sure where to take anything. And, yeah... you can probably guess what my typing is like here (or anyplace else)... I type here or in Word, I type something (or notepad), and 15-20+ seconds later it shows up, so I have to stay on top of my grammar and spelling. I have to keep on top of all that, because I'm working on the big Carmen story at the same time, so I can't slip off my game.))
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    @Jon Eckart Not exactly sure if I understand all your computer probs. I hope you get those resolved soon. Yes, I have many probs with my basic Google Chrome, too. I think it's fair to say we all have a love/hate relationship with technology. 😆 As far as your stories are concerned, you can use any cannon character you like, whether there is a person playing that role on here or not. Say the story is a fanfiction; and that the version of Chase, or Carmen (or whoever) from the computer games, gameshow (or whatever). We don't do Netflix Carmen, mostly because of the violence. And because it is fanfiction, you can also create other characters and situations to suit your story. Now, Chase, Carme, Ivy (or whoever) were here, of course, you would ask their permission; tell them your idea; and if they like it they might write it with you. 🙂
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    @Jon Eckart Now, if you for a friendship with someone on--and off-site, you might form a partnership with them, and write stories together (like Chase and Carmen; or Chase and Ivy; or Lucy and I) and then you will just put a statement saying that this story is a co-write with whoever. In fact, if you collaborate with this person a lot, people will just assume they have your permission; although you should always say it anyway, just as a common courtesy. In fact, ironically, the only people whose permission you must always ask to use their characters are "original" characters, who are creations of their individual writers (which most of us on here, are) specifically because we are not cannon. I hope that makes sense. 🙂
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    @Jon Eckart Now, if you want to write something, but don't have a lot of time, I would suggest posting a status; or replying to someone else's status. Or you could start a guessing game. Look under Forums/Guessing Games, and look at some things other people have done, to give you ideas. I hope that helps. 🙂
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