In case you have never been laser-tagging, it's basically when a bunch of people put on futuristic suits with phasers attached, and then run around in a dark smoky room trying to tag each other with lasers. The whole experience is incredibly fun, and also dangerous
When you tag someone, you get points and they lose points, and the team with the most points wins.
I had been laser-tagging before, but never with people in my own height range. Usually, I end up tagging along with my little brother and his army of elementary school boys. This does not make for a pleasant experience, partly because little boys are too quick to hit, and partly because they are too short to be seen.
Anyhow, there were about forty of us there, which was the exact size a group has to be if they want a discount. What I didn't know, was that their "discount" still left me swiping a card for fifty dollars.
Those of you who want to play laser-tag: prepare to be robbed.
We signed our waivers and were hustled into a little room lit by UV lights. Before I could start asking whether or not they would cause skin cancer, a bored staff member started droning the rules at us.
Both feet on the ground, don't cuss, no physical contact, yadda yadda.....
As he was putting us all to sleep, I noticed a GROWN MAN sitting in the midst of all these kids. BY HIMSELF.
Earlier, I had seen him walk up to the register and pay for a game - but I didn't think that he would be paying for himself. And even if he was, WHY WAS HE ALONE?
There were a bunch of other pre-teen boys hanging around in the back, but he was sitting apart from them. I became highly suspicious, but just as I began to tell my friends, the door opened and we were unleashed into the arena.
Instantly, I slung on my pack and sped into the arena to find a good hiding spot, 'cause if there's one thing I'm good at, it's cowering and avoiding battle.
Presently, I was hidden in a little nook where I could see others, but they couldn't really see me, and I began zapping away. I was so focused on hitting others that I didn't really check the information panel on my phaser,which told me who I hit, who hit me, and what my points/life/ammo/credits looked like.
Apparently, though, I kept zapping this particular kid, who I'm going to call Angry Gamer Boy. When you get into the game, you get to pick a codename. Mine was Queen 'Superbat', a cute title that my baby brother gave to me earlier that month <3. Angry Gamer Boy was called 'destoryer1' or something along these lines.
Every time I turned a corner, there he was - and because he was on the opposite team, I would instantly take aim, shoot, and disable him.
Apparently, he believed that I was targeting him in particular, and that made him angry. Angry Gamer Boy ended up facing off with my brother - codename 'Stick' - whose gaming skills are on a whole new level. My brother had somehow discovered the secret to invincibility, which pissed Angry Gamer Boy off until he was frothing with rage.
"That's a d*** move!" he kept hollering, according to my brother, before stalking off to find out how he could get his own hands on that invincibility juice.
When he did, he hunted me down.
At this point, I was just minding my own business, sitting in my little corner with my friends, when BAM! Out of nowhere, I see this kid stomping towards me.
His laser was flashing, which made me assume that I had hit him, so I just kept blasting him until he got the message that this was my turf and to back off or get toasted, but he just kept coming.
"INVINCIBILITY!" he roared, getting all up in my face. "You like that, huh? You like that?"
He was close enough that I could see the demented glee in his eyes. He plugged me with about thirty thousand more shots (I was already hit, so half of them were wasted) before he strolled away, cackling with pleasure at his well-executed revenge.
I had no idea what he was targeting me for - until I got my ranking later on, and discovered that I had taken him out on several occasions.
That wasn't the only startling thing, though. At some point later on in the second round, I was chilling on a sniper podium with my green-team homies when somebody came barreling in, rolling like a tumbleweed.
Who is this guy? I wondered, turning to see if it was one of my teammates - and who should it be but the GROWN MAN I had seen earlier?!?!
I just about died with shock. He babbled something out of Call of Duty like "my position has been compromised, fare thee well, teammates!" before rolling off again, leaving me and some of the other snipers in shock. In my surprise, I got zapped from behind, confirming my suspicion that this guy was bad news.
We played two games, and both times my rank was in the top 20 (there were forty spots). In the second round, I might have made it to the top ten, but I unknowingly stood under a Gem for about thirty minutes without realizing it.
For those of you who don't know, a Gem is a machine that looks like a clock and is mounted on a wall. If you stand under it, it activates - and you have to shoot it before it shoots you. If you manage to hit it before the countdown ends, you get a reward. If you fail to hit it, like I did (because I had no idea it was there), the Gem shoots you and takes your points.
After the first game ended, we gathered outside to pray Maghrib salat in the street, on the concrete. Luckily, someone had brought a cloth we could use to cover the ground. That was one of the highlights of the evening - the night air was so cool and peaceful, and the moon was gleaming in the sky.
When both games were over, we walked to a nearby restaurant and deliberated over whether there were enough seats. There weren't, so some people went to get fast food, and some people went to get pizza, like me and my siblings.
We ate dinner and stayed there until 10, when my father came to pick us up. By that time, I had made some new friends from different schools, and the group planning on the next outing with the same people.
Overall, it was an exciting evening, and I'd like to do it again sometime - who knows? Maybe this time I can make it to the top spot.
