26 September 2000 Saturday.
Sakaki grinned as he stood with the Bakudan boys, and even now they still hung out together just like before, despite all of them already becoming ZAGE employees. In fact, their bond had only grown stronger. They had even gone as far as buying houses near each other, turning their neighborhood into a small base of their own, a place where they could still mess around, play games, and keep that same chaotic energy alive without worrying about distance or schedules.
Even with their busy lives at ZAGE, they always made time for each other, and today was one of those rare moments where everything aligned perfectly. It was a holiday, and all of them had been waiting for this exact day. The release of Smash Bros had finally arrived, and each of them had already secured their own copy. ZAGE allowed its employees to purchase at least one physical copy of newly released games, and of course, none of them were going to miss this opportunity.
Now, with the games in their hands and excitement building up, they were ready to finally play together. The energy between them felt almost electric, filled with anticipation and competitive spirit. And their destination? There was no debate at all. It was none other than Sawada's house, the usual gathering spot, the place where all their chaos, laughter, and unforgettable gaming sessions always happened.
Sawada was already standing in front of his house when he let out a long sigh. "Why is it always my house again…?" he muttered, already knowing the answer but still annoyed anyway.
Sakaki immediately replied with a grin, "Come on, man. Your house is the most normal one! And the cleanest too! Kumogi's place looks like a disaster zone, and Rikki's house smells weird all the time since he keeps bringing girls over!"
Rikki snorted loudly, clearly offended. "You're one to talk! Your house smells like a damn shithole, Sakaki!"
Meanwhile, Kumogi raised his hands defensively, sighing as he got dragged into it. "Hey, to be fair, my place is messy, yeah, but it's not stinky like your places! There's a difference!"
The three of them kept arguing right in front of Sawada's gate like usual, their voices overlapping as they threw insults back and forth without holding anything back.
Sakaki finally snapped, "Shut the hell up, you two! Anyway, Sawada, we brought snacks so we can spend the whole weekend here. That's cool, right?"
He leaned slightly closer with a teasing grin. "I mean, it's not like you've got a girlfriend or anything, right?"
Sawada just stared at them for a moment, already feeling a headache coming as he realized once again that his house had unofficially become their base of operations.
Sawada let out another sigh, clearly giving up on resisting them. "You guys are all just lazy f*ckers… fine, just come in already."
Rikki, Sakaki, and Kumogi immediately grinned, completely unfazed by the insult. In fact, they looked even more excited as they stepped inside like they owned the place.
Now the four of them were finally together, the core of the Bakudan boys. Even though they had tried inviting other members in the past, none of them could really keep up with their energy for long. It wasn't just about playing games, it was the chaos, the noise, the constant trash talk, something only the four of them truly enjoyed.
At this point, it was clear. The Bakudan boys weren't just a group… They were a very specific kind of madness that only worked when all four of them were together.
Then Sawada began preparing his ZEPS 3, moving with a kind of quiet pride as he set everything up properly. He had already arranged four controllers neatly in front of the TV, making sure nothing was tangled or messy. On top of that, he was now using a brand new Samsung LCD TV, something that immediately stood out the moment the others stepped inside.
Sakaki let out a whistle the moment he noticed it. "Damn! New TV already? You really know how to save your money, man!"
Sawada adjusted his glasses calmly, clearly satisfied with the reaction. "ZAGE salaries are great, and unlike you three, I'm a decent person. I don't burn through my paycheck every single month."
The three of them looked slightly offended, but deep down they knew he was right. Despite earning good money at ZAGE, they somehow still struggled to save anything at all, whether it was from impulsive spending, games, or just bad habits in general.
Rikki groaned loudly, scratching his head in frustration. "Alright, alright… I'll start saving next month, for real this time."
Kumogi immediately sighed, not even looking convinced. "That's exactly what you said 12 months ago, Rikki."
Sakaki laughed at that, while Sawada just shook his head, already used to this kind of conversation. Even so, the atmosphere felt comfortable, like this kind of back-and-forth was just part of who they were as a group.
Sawada chuckled as he carefully inserted the Smash Bros disc into the ZEPS 3, the console letting out a soft mechanical hum as it began to load. The Bakudan boys immediately leaned closer to the screen, their excitement impossible to hide. Sawada glanced at them and said, "Damn you three… I was actually looking forward to playing the story mode first, you know?"
Rikki grinned without hesitation. "Come on! Story is just a bonus in this kind of game. The real fun is multiplayer!"
Kumogi nodded enthusiastically, clearly on the same side. Even Sakaki smirked, already gripping his controller tighter as if he was preparing for battle.
Sawada could only sigh in defeat, though there was a small smile on his face. He knew arguing was pointless when they were this excited.
Without wasting any more time, Sawada skipped the opening animation, deciding he would watch it later on his own. The moment the main menu appeared, accompanied by a powerful and catchy soundtrack, the room instantly felt more alive.
Sawada quickly navigated through the menu, selecting multiplayer, then choosing four players. The screen transitioned smoothly, and all four of them grabbed their controllers, settling into position like they were about to enter a real competition.
For now, there were only 20 characters available in total.
Sakaki's eyes widened in disbelief. "What!? It's just 20 characters!?"
Sawada immediately replied, clearly annoyed, "Of course, you idiot. It's a brand new game with no progress yet. What did you expect? That we could just buy characters using Yen now?"
Kumogi's eyes widened even more, looking genuinely shocked. "What!? That's an outrageous idea!"
Rikki shrugged casually, not taking it seriously at all. "Yeah, like anyone would even use that feature anyway. But hey… let's see, only 20 characters, huh? And—oh! My wife is already unlocked!"
He grinned widely as he quickly selected Chun-Li without hesitation, clearly excited to use her.
Meanwhile, Kumogi was still trying to process everything. "Wait, wait! I still don't understand jacksh*t about this game!"
Sakaki laughed and grinned. "Same here. I've got no idea what's going on either… but who cares, let's just play!"
The atmosphere instantly shifted into excitement again, as confusion didn't matter at all. For them, the chaos was already starting, and that was more than enough.
Sawada began to explain, trying to sound patient even though he already knew they wouldn't listen fully. "This game is simple. Press Square to attack, and while doing that you can mix between normal attacks and directional tilt attacks. If you press a direction together with Square at the same time, it becomes a 'Smash attack,' which hits harder and can launch opponents further."
He adjusted his glasses slightly, continuing, "Press Triangle to perform special attacks. Each character has four of them, Neutral, Left or Right, Up, and Down. So depending on your direction, the move changes. Circle is for grabbing, and obviously X is for jumping. R1 and L1 are for guarding and if you press directional while guarding it will do Dash, and L2 and R2… those are just for taunting."
He paused for a moment, looking at them. "It sounds simple, but there's depth in how you chain everything together."
Sakaki frowned slightly, then asked, "How do you even know all this?"
Sawada let out a tired sigh. "I'm a developer. I'm literally helping my team develop Smash Bros, man."
Sakaki clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed. "Che! I'm not jealous or anything… but it doesn't matter. I'm still going to beat all three of you."
Rikki laughed, already shaking his controller. "We'll see about that."
Kumogi still looked confused, but he tightened his grip anyway. "I still don't fully get it… but I'll figure it out while playing."
Sawada shook his head, realizing explanation time was officially over. Without further delay, the four of them immediately started the match, their focus shifting from understanding the game… to pure chaos.
Sawada chose Mario, Sakaki picked Sonic, Rikki immediately locked in Chun-Li, and Kumogi went with Samus Aran. Without overthinking it, they jumped straight into a match and selected a random stage, most of the stages still locked anyway since the game was brand new. None of that mattered to them, the only thing that mattered was starting the fight as fast as possible.
The moment the match began, everything turned chaotic almost instantly. None of them really understood the deeper mechanics yet, so they just mashed, jumped, and attacked wildly, trying to figure things out while already competing at full intensity.
Rikki grinned as he started pummeling Sakaki's Sonic with Chun-Li's attacks, throwing quick hits without giving him any breathing room. Kumogi quickly joined in, adding even more pressure, turning it into an unspoken 2v1 situation.
Sakaki groaned loudly as his character was sent flying across the screen again and again, his percentage climbing rapidly until it reached around 100. "Hey! Rikki, Kumogi! You damn cheaters!" he shouted, clearly frustrated but also laughing at the same time.
But before they could celebrate, Sawada suddenly moved in from behind, using Mario to strike both Kumogi and Rikki at the same time, catching them completely off guard and knock Rikki and Kumogi..
Sakaki laughed instead of getting annoyed. "Nice assist, Sawada!" he said, immediately recovering and jumping back into the fight, following up with even more aggressive attacks, now switching targets again as the chaos continued to escalate.
Rikki groaned, "Damn you, Sawada!" as her Chun-Li respawned, landing back onto the stage with barely any time to breathe. Kumogi's Samus respawned as well, and he immediately leaned forward, eyes locked on the screen. "Rikki, let's team up and take down Sawada and Sakaki first," he said quickly.
Rikki grinned. "Alright, let's go!"
For a brief moment, it looked like they had formed an actual alliance. The two rushed in together, trying to corner Sawada's Mario while also keeping an eye on Sakaki's Sonic. Attacks flew everywhere, the screen filled with effects and movement as neither side wanted to back down.
But that alliance didn't last long.
In the middle of the chaos, Kumogi suddenly grinned and turned on Rikki, smashing Chun-Li with a clean hit that sent her flying off the stage before she could even react. "Wait—what!?" Rikki shouted, completely caught off guard as she was ringed out.
Before Kumogi could celebrate properly, Sawada immediately took advantage of the opening. Mario dashed in and struck Samus with a well-timed fireball attack, sending Rikki to his doom.
"WHAAT!? DAMN YOU, KUMOGI!" Rikki yelled, pointing accusingly even as she laughed.
Kumogi just laughed back, not even apologizing. "Hey, no rules, right?"
At this point, any sense of teamwork completely collapsed. Alliances didn't exist anymore, not even for a second. It was every man for himself, with constant backstabs, sudden hits, and unpredictable movement filling the screen.
None of them fully understood what they were doing, their inputs messy and reactions sometimes too late, but somehow that made it even better. The chaos wasn't a flaw, it was the fun itself, and it kept pulling them deeper into the match as laughter and shouting filled the room.
The game was pure chaos, and the Bakudan Boys were absolutely having a blast with it. That same feeling echoed what other players experienced when playing Smash Bros as well. Matches were loud, unpredictable, and full of sudden moments where everything could turn around in an instant, especially in multiplayer where four players were constantly colliding, interrupting, and outplaying each other without any clear structure.
At first glance, it felt like complete madness, but underneath that chaos, the game actually had surprising depth. There were advanced mechanics like combos, precise timing for parries, dodges that required good reaction, and even air movement that could completely change how a fight played out. The kind of techniques that, once mastered, could turn a player from average into completely dominant.
But right now, none of that mattered to most players, including the Bakudan Boys. They didn't fully understand those mechanics yet, and honestly, they didn't need to. At this stage, it was all about the excitement, the laughter, and the unpredictable moments that made every match feel alive. They were simply enjoying the game for what it was, a chaotic, fun, and addictive experience that pulled everyone in the moment they started playing.
To be continue
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