"Alright guys, keep coming!" Axel shouted so that his voice could be heard throughout the rec room of the base. Marines were on duty most of the time, but when they weren't some of them liked to just have fun on the base with other marines. Axel usually went to a local tavern, casino or some other form of entertainment on the island he was visiting, but since the marksman already aw everything that Baterilla had to offer, he decided to just stay in the large rec room that was on the second floor of the base. The brick walls that surrounded him and some other marines were painted blue and several soothing paintings were pinned on them that made the atmosphere calm enough for anyone to feel welcome. There were tons of games set up too, like pool, several tables that had decks of cards on them, pinball, and there was also a favorite of Axel's that he kept beating people on this afternoon, which was Air Hockey. The machine was powered by a dial, so the puck on the playing field was supported by a cushion of air pushed out through various holes on the sides, allowing for a faster and efficient game. The game was set up right in the middle of the room.

"Come on guys, is anyone in the room man enough to challenge me?" Axel asked, but everyone was burned out from playing with him alright, and rather annoyed. He was so good that as soon as they accepted his challenge, the game was already decided. He tried to hold back since he knew that the amount of people that would play with him was declining, but once the young man was in the zone, there was no stopping him.

While Axel was looking around the room attempting to find someone who hasn't played him in Air Hockey, he took some time to notice the room's structure. It was a square room that was about 20 meters long and wide, with the roof being about 10 meters from the floor. The Air Hockey table had the most space away from all of the other play tables, which was only a few feet but it worked out alright for Axel, especially when someone to the left of him was walking around when they lost their balance and began to fall. Axel was looking forward at that point, but he saw the boy from the corner of his eye at the last second and jumped to the right, meaning the the clumsy person would probably have fallen on the cold hard floor. If the marksman realize that the person was falling, he would have caught them, but he couldn't do anything about that now. Axel examined the marine with his justice coat draped over his poncho, and noticed that he looked quite young to be a marine. He wouldn't ask about that yet however. The first thing to do was to be friendly, so Axel held his right hand out towards the boy and called forth.

"Hey, are you alright kid? sorry about not catching you earlier, but anyway, my name is Axel Rover," the man in the red coat would say, greeting the child. This is assuming that the boy fell on the floor. If he was standing up from either catching himself mid-fall or getting up before Axel could offer a hand up, he would simply go for a handshake. He also had a smile on his face to look friendly.

The boy told Axel not to worry about not catching him as he took his hand and pulled himself off of the ground with the help. He also gave out his name as well, which was Hao. Axel realized that he never really noticed this fellow around South Blue until now, but that was a good thing. He spent a few minutes trying to get someone to play his favorite game with him, so maybe this young marine wouldn't mind playing.

"Hey, do you want to play a game of Air Hockey with me? Even if you haven't played, it is easy to pick up," Axel suggested, pointing to the Air Hockey table on his right, gesturing for the boy to go on the other side. He put his right hand on his red mallet(an air hockey mallet) and was ready. At the press of a button on the table, a puck would eject from either inner side in the middle of the table and the two would get to it. A person had to strike the puck with their mallet towards the enemy's puck return hole, and when they did that, they would earn a point. The scoreboard took on a small rectangle shape on the outer right side of the table, which was on the right of Axel. Whoever got 7 fist won. The marksman wasn't really a betting man, so no beli would be earned from this game, unless the boy who he might be playing against suggested such a thing.

Not to Axel's surprise, Hao told him that he was not familiar with the game, but that wasn't a problem at all, since it was really easy to teach. Axel pressed the button that shot the Air Hockey puck out of the right inner side of the table. It ricocheted from the left side towards the marksman, and in response he gently tapped it with is mallet which he held with his right arm. Since his aim was better than most ensigns, the white spiky-haired marine could have easily got the puck into Hao's puck return, but he was teaching the young boy, so it hit the side of his return, slow enough to stay on his side so that he had a chance to hit it.

"See? All you do is strike the puck with your mallet, aiming it at the puck return on your opponent's side of the table. Once it goes in you get a point," Axel explained.  While explaining, Hao seemed to want to make the game interesting by making a deal with his opponent. If Axel won, then Hao would show him something cool, but if the boy won, then Axel would owe him something. He had a twisted smile on his face, so the gunner thought that something fishy was up, but still, there was no reason to deny this bet in Axel's opinion. Apparently he ha a chance to see something cool, and with his aim he would be able to easily beat the beginner. With his perception, most of Hao's attempts at getting the puck in the older marine's puck return would not be successful.

"Uh, fine. I accept that deal. But just know, since an item of mines is on the line, I won't hold back from now on, heh," Axel replied with a friendly smile on his face.

Axel was curious what Hao was planning when he insisted that the marksman take the first shot. He was even further curious when the boy left his puck return open for either a left or a right angle shot, which Axel could easily make. Perhaps it was because this was his first time playing, but even Axel had enough common sense to protect those sides in his very first game against his father.

"Hmmm, alright then. You gotta return the puck to me first since it is on your side, heh," Axel would respond with a smile. Once Hao gently tapped on the puck with his mallet, hopefully straight forward, Axel would strike at it with his own mallet precisely, hitting the middle left side of the table and angling itself right into Hao's puck return on his right. If this worked then the white spiky-haired marine would have one point and would only have to gain six more. There were times when he felt bad for his opponents since he never went easy on anyone, but you had to look at it as a teaching method instead of him being a deuchebag. Axel always thought that the best way to teach someone was to put them on the spot straight away so that their mind would have to find a way out of that situation as fast a possible. The brain was quite a thing, so you would be surprised what people can do when they are in a stressful position like this one.

...

7 points later, Axel squashed his opponent, as usual.

"No hard feelings, right bro? Anyway, I have to go to a mission briefing pretty soon. Bye!" Axel said to Hao as he left the rec room.

EXIT

OOC: I can't force you to find this topic interesting or anything, so I will just bounce.

Exit..and what not sorry axel.