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"...and then this plug goes into there. And, ta-da! Your new Xbox One is ready to go, Tabby!"
Ryan had just finished helping me connect my brand new (er, pre-owned) Xbox One to my TV. Ghost Ray was there to help supervise. For him, it was munching on Oreos while floating above my bed.
Ryan handed me the Xbox One controller while Ghost Ray floated directly above my head, still munching on Oreos.
"Damn it, Ray! I didn't see 'cloudy with a chance of cookies' in the weather forecast today!" I exclaim, brushing the cookie crumbs outta my hair.
"I can see better from up here. What can I say? Be grateful I'm not eating ice-cream. Which reminds me, I should get some ice-cream."
"Ray, don't you-!"
The sounds of the Xbox One loading up and the title screen appearing on my TV screen made us stop arguing. That pretty green glow and the Xbox logo made me smile. I didn't miss my Xbox 360 anymore. I've moved on in the world.
"So, set up your things and I'll be back to get you started on your new gaming library. Ray, don't cause any trouble. I'll be back soon, Tabby." Ryan smiles and pats me on the head before heading out of my bedroom door. Ghost Ray finally gets the hint and sits down next to me on my bed.
"This is gonna be boring." he laments.
"Get your BFF in here, then. I need to set all this nonsense up." I shrug.
Ghost Ray flies out the door and I don't see him for about 2 minutes. Then, he returns with his BFF Cheryl. And she also brought Omega, Fallz, Lightning and Zinnia with her. What is this, a party?
"I've brought the party!" Yep.
"Damn it, Ray! I don't have all the info set up yet!" I groaned.
"Where's the old Xbox? I want to hit things. Can I hit things?" Lotti asks, holding her prized battle axe.
"Why did you bring that thing?" Cheryl chuckles and rolls her eyes.
"Because Ghost Ray said to bring the fun. This is fun for me. Now, where's my target?" Lotti's eyes gleamed, ready to strike.
"No weapons in my room, please! There's barely enough room for my knives as it is!" I say, as Fallz rolls her eyes at me.
It was time to connect to the Internet.
"Uhhh....what's our WIFI router name again?" I ask, scratching the back of my neck.
"Isn't it 'MadHouseWTF' or something like that?" Omega asked, trying to steal an Oreo from Ghost Ray.
"No touchie the snack! Nooooo touchie!" Ghost Ray lightly tapped his hands and flew away from the hungry Vagabond.
"Oh, wait. I think it's 'MHFTW666,' Tabby." Fallz pointed at the TV screen to the mentioned name. I click it and then it asks me for the password.
"Uhhh...help?" I giggle.
"I got this. It's 'RayIsTheBestEverAndNoOneCanSayOtherwiseYOLOBlazeItUp.'" Ghost Ray smirked. Cheryl gave her BFF a high five.
Omega chuckled as Lotti facepalmed. "Aw come on, Lotti. That was funny!"
"I might have a new target for this axe now." she muttered.
Zinnia slowly raised their hand. "I'd like to try..." They took the controller out of my hand and started typing it in.
"A-P-P-L-E-S-U-X-4-L-Y-F-E"
And of course, it works.
"How did you guess that?!" I looked at Zinnia in shock.
"Lucky guess. Plus, it wouldn't be anything too obvious." Zinnia shrugged and successfully stole a cookie from Ghost Ray. "And this is my reward. Thank you!"
Ghost Ray folds his arms and grumbles. "I could've guessed it, too. I mean, I knew that. Who cares, y'know?"
I logged into my other accounts and finally got to my personal home screen. Thank God!
Omega looked closely at my gamertag and rolls his eyes. "Really? TabiDramaQueen? That's what you're going with?"
"It's accurate." Ghost Ray snickers.
"Shut up, guys! It's a perfectly good username!" I stick my tongue out at them.
"Now, children. Stop fighting over gamertags. Let's all agree that mine is the best." Lotti scolded.
"Whatever you say, Lotti." Omega winked and gave her a hug.
Suddenly, Ryan popped his head into my room. "Hey, Tabby? Uhh...I might've entered the Just Dance World Cup and I don't know how to get out...and it might be under your name in the game room."
"WHAT?! Damn it, Ryan! My highest score gets saved, but I have to try each round! Ughh..I'll be right back, guys. I gotta dance for about an hour straight. Don't touch anything, unless you can find a way for me to get Xbox Gold free for a year." I chuckle, gathering my dance clothes, towel and bottle of water.
"Don't dance too much!" Cheryl gives me a hug.
"Go for the gold!" Omega gives me a thumbs up.
"If you need a partner, I'm right here. Best dancer in the MadHouse." Ghost Ray boasts.
I chuckle and wave at everyone as Ryan and I quickly head to the game room to dance the day away.
Ghost Ray sat still for ten seconds and then floated to my TV screen. "All righty. Let's change her gamertag."
Omega immediately raises his hand in agreement. "I'm in!"
Fallz' eyes widened. "Wait a second. She said not to touch anything! Are you sure this is a good idea?"
The MadHouse ghost just shrugged. "I don't care. I did this before with Ryan and it turned out great!"
"You're dead." Zinnia pointed out.
"I didn't say it turned out great for me."
Lotti took out her phone and started recording the plotting. "All right, people. Let's decide what we're gonna change her gamertag to."
Zinnia, being the peacemaker, had to ask, "Can't we just change it to something nice?"
"Are you kidding me?! This is a prank! This is shenanigans! It can't be nice! Besides, she deserves this. She made me the target during DBD Night. I can't let that pass!" Omega exclaimed.
Lotti gave Omega a thumbs up from behind the camera. "Excellent acting. YouTube will love it."
"I'm not acting, but consider me for all the awards, please. I'll take 'em."
Zinnia shrugged and started playing with my Sailor Scout Funko POPS while sitting on my bed. "How about 'IH8DACOLORPINK?'"
Ghost Ray shook his head. "Laaaaaame."
"'DANCECENTRAL5EVA'" Fallz suggested.
"Super laaaaaaaame. And that's 16 characters. A gamertag can have up to 15. You can't count."
Fallz just flipped him off. "Well, YOU come up with something, Einstein!"
Ghost Ray crossed his arms and pouted. "BFF! Fallz is doubting my gamertag genius!"
"Fallz, be nice to Ray." Cheryl scolded. Fallz banged her head against the wall a couple times as Cheryl looked up in thought. "Wait! I've got it!" She grabbed the Xbox One controller and went straight to work. "Oh, my God. How come we didn't think of this sooner??"
The others looked at the screen as the name spelled itself out.
D-A-M-N_I-T_
Fallz and Lotti were the first ones to burst out laughing as he finished typing.
"Damn_It_Tabitha?! Oh, my God! That is perfect!" Fallz gave Omega a high 5.
"My BF, the genius." Lotti smirked and gave him a pat on the head.
Omega chuckled. "Wow. That's really clever. Way to go, Cheryl."
Cheryl giggled. "She's gonna be pissed, though. Ryan only said that once! And I was in the room when that happened!"
"Well, I'm sure he would've said it the other two times she distracted him when he played GTA V with us." Omega rolled his eyes. "And look at that! It fits perfectly. We're keeping this."
Lotti used her phone to zoom in on the new gamertag. "Oh, Tabby. Get rekt."
"Wait! If we change it, won't someone grab her old one?" Zinnia asked. A valid concern.
"Nah. No one is gonna take her old one, because it's super lame." Ghost Rat noted.
"So, let's change it, then!" Omega clicked ENTER on the controller and another screen took its place.
TABIDRAMAQUEEN, you're about to change your gamertag to Damn_It_Tabitha.
SOUNDS GOOD
GO BACK
Omega gave a mischievous smirk. "Oh, would you look at that? No one has claimed that username yet. Guess I'd better-"
Cheryl stopped him before he pressed the "A" button. "Wait!"
"Aw, come on. Are you gonna try to talk me out of this again?"
"Nah. I'm all for this shit. But, I was just thinking...Instead of you pressing the button, why not have her press it?"
Ghost Ray gasped and gave his BFF a hug. "And this is why you're the best! I love it, Cheryl! But, how will we get her up here?"
"We don't! It'll ruin everything. Someone has to go down and convince her to press it. And since I came up with this, my BFF and I are out."
"I can't do it. I've gotta film." Lotti shrugged.
Fallz and Zinnia looked at each other. They knew Omega wouldn't do it. Welp. Rock-Paper-Scissors time!
"ONE-TWO-THREE!"
Fallz got paper and Zinnia got scissors.
"Welp. Fallz is gonna die. It's been nice knowing ya." Ghost Ray gave her a pat on the back.
"Shut up! I don't really care. She'll trust me enough to do it. I'll be right back. Don't touch a thing or this won't work!" Fallz glares at Ray as she leave my room with the controller in hand.
"Wait for me! I've gotta see this, and so does the Internet!" Lotti exclaims, running after her with the camera on.
-----------------------------
I've been dancing for 20 minutes and I'm exhausted. This game doesn't give you any breaks! I'm lucky to have 30 seconds in between songs to catch my breath. I collapse on the beanbags as Ryan hands me an ice-cold bottle of water and a pink towel.
"Wow, Tabitha. I've never seen you dance so vigorously before. How do you do it?" Ryan asked me.
"I dunno...I've been playing the game since Just Dance 2. And I've trained for this...for about 2 weeks now. But, you know, I don't have to do this alone. I could use a dance partner." I smile through my panting and look at him. Ryan backs away and holds his hands up in surrender.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Now, you don't want me to dance with you. I have two left feet. My only dancing claim to fame is the Muppet Neck Dance." Ryan says as he demonstrates this move, his crown flying off his head. I giggle and hand it back to him.
Just then, the game beeps and switches screens to let me know that a new song has been chosen. Break time over.
"Ugh...Every song I vote for loses. Now, I gotta do this Extreme dance nonsense that I didn't practice." I groan, taking my position in front of the gameroom's Kinect.
The song starts and so does my dancing. I'm too focused on the dance, I didn't hear Fallz and Lotti walk in the room. Lotti stayed by the door for some reason. I couldn't see why.
"Hello, Fallz. What brings you here? Have you come to dance, too?" Ryan asks.
Fallz just shakes her head. "No thank you. Maybe later. I just came to ask Tabby to do me a favor."
"Favor? Sure. What?" I ask, while still focused on this dance.
Fallz held my Xbox controller in front of me, trying to keep it steady as I moved around so much. I think I made her dizzy. "Tabby, could you press A for me? Joe swung into your room and accidentally went to the wrong menu."
Just then, the Ninja Monkey in question swung in and landed in the beanbags. "I heard my name. What did I do?"
"Nothing, monkey boy. Get outta here." Lotti took a banana from the fruit bowl and tossed it out the room.
"BANANA!!" Joe exclaimed as he followed the fruity goodness out.
"See? That's exactly what he did in your room, Tabby. So, can you just press this button so everything can go back to normal?" Fallz attempted again.
I shrug and quickly look down at the controller, pressing A. "There you go. Hopefully, Joe didn't screw everything up."
Lotti snickered as Ryan looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What's so funny? And why is-?"
"Shhh! Ryan, we're..." She then gestured for him to lean forwards and whispered something in his ear. The music was so loud, I couldn't make it out. Ryan then gave one of his chuckles and shook his head.
"Oh, you Vagabonds. Never a dull moment with you all."
"Thanks, Tabby! I'll let you know what happens. Later!" Fallz waved at me as she and Lotti quickly rushed out the room.
I shrugged and continued dancing. "Ryan, what the hell was that all about? What did Lotti tell you?"
"Oh, nothing. Just a little something she and the other Vagabonds are working on. They mentioned a surprise for you, actually. For making it in the top 100 of the Just Dance World Cup."
"A surprise for me? Wow! I guess I'd better dance harder!"
"Maybe we can play Party Hard to celebrate. It'll be just like last time I've played with you guys. It already feels like it..." Ryan muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing! Nothing!" he chuckled nervously.
What is going on in the MadHouse today??
-------------------------------
Lotti and Fallz approached my bedroom to the sounds of groaning and "oh, so close!" from the others.
"What? What happened?? Did it go through?" Lotti asked.
Ghost Ray facepalmed and shook his head. "Nah, Lightning. It went to her payment info. I can't believe you gotta pay 10 bucks to change your name! Oh, she's really gonna be pissed now, dudes."
"Ah, she has the money. If she can get Just Dance Unlimited for 50 bucks, she can spare 10. Besides, we can all chip in to pay her back afterwards. We're not that evil." Omega shrugged.
"So, she has to press it one more time?" Zinnia asked, finally putting away my Funko POP Sailor Scout collection away.
"Well, she doesn't have to press it. Someone here will. Cheryl, you wanna do it?" Fallz held out the controller to her.
"I'm not getting more blood on my hands. BFF, you do it."
"Nuh-uh. I've learned from the last time that whoever presses the button is screwed for life. You can count me out, buddy." Ghost Ray flew and hid under my bed. "I'm a ghost ninja. U can't see me."
Zinnia shook their head. "I'm just here to watch."
Lotti gave Zinnia the phone to hold. "Hey, Omega. Let's both press it together."
Omega hovered his finger over the A button and Lotti did the same.
"On three. 1...2...3!"
*CLICK!*
DONE. Your gamertag is now Damn_It_Tabitha
The room erupted into cheers and laughter. Lotti took the phone back to record the reactions.
Ninja Monkey Joe swooped in. "I heard a party in here. What's happening?"
Omega pulled Joe over to my screen and pointed to what they've just done to me. "Look at this, man! We've changed Tabby's gamertag!"
Joe doubled over in laughter. "Damn_It_Tabitha?! Oh, my God. That's perfect! I do not want to be around when she kills you guys, though."
"Ah, she'll be fine. It's just a joke." Cheryl chuckled.
Lotti zoomed in on the "now official" gamertag. "Wow. So, this is your new life now, Tabby. Hope you like it."
Azriella and Jess made their way into my room, holding out their phones.
"What the heck just happened? My Xbox just gave me a notification that said Tabby changed her gamertag. Obviously, that's a lie."
"And Lotti is filming, so we know something went down here. And you didn't call me for magic assistance. I'm impressed!" Azriella said, showing Cheryl a pic on her phone. It was indeed on the Xbox One timeline.
Everyone was too busy cracking up to fully explain things, but one look at the screen from them both and they instantly knew what happened.
"I don't care how this happened. This is frickin' genius! Well done, guys. I can't wait for the retribution for this. She's gonna lose it!" Jess smirked as she went back to her new Mod room.
"Let me know if you need some sort of magical barrier to protect you from her wrath. I shall be waiting with open arms and an empty stomach. Bring snacks!" Azriella waved and disappeared.
"How is she gonna find out about this?" Joe asks.
"Oh, she'll find out. It's only a matter of when~" Omega chuckles.
---------------------------------
The hour of dancing hell is finally over. I won't know my ranking until tomorrow afternoon. I collapse on the beanbags again, but this time, I won't have to get up for a while.
"OH, I'm so glad that's over. I have a week until the next round starts." I groan, my body aching all over the place.
"You've done well, Tabby. Whether you make it or not, I am proud of you. We're all proud of you." Ryan smiles.
"I wonder how I ranked in this last song, though." I asked, taking a sip from my bottled water.
"Don't worry. I'm sure you-" Ryan looked at the screen and started chuckling. It then evolved into laughter. "Wow. They actually did it. Oh, my God. Well done."
"What? What happened, Ryan?" I looked as my score was in big letters and numbers.
And then I saw it
9th place: Damn_It_Tabitha 7049 USA
"WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL?! WHAT IS THIS??" I exclaim as I look over to Ryan still laughing about this. "And you're LAUGHING?? Ryan Haywood, this is all your fault! I can't...How? HOW DID THEY DO THIS?! Ugh...If you'll excuse me Ryan, I have some people to kill." I grumble, taking out a knife from my back pocket. I throw it at one of the beanbags in anger and pull it out. "I think I need to find Joe so I can practice on him again." I grumble as I storm out the room.
Ryan looks around in amusement. "Ah, almost seems like yesterday when I was in her shoes. Deja vu at its finest..." He sighs and sits on a beanbag. Unfortunately, it was the yellow beanbag I've sliced through 20 seconds ago. So, he fell over as the beanbag deflated and the filling spilled out, covering the floor. He tried to stand up but ended up slipping and falling on the floor. He shook his head and chuckled.
"Damn it, Tabitha!"