Fic: Chosen
Summary: It was, of course, John Sheppard that brought the arcade machine to Atlantis.
Spoilers: None
Word Count: 1453
Written for: crossovers100
Prompt: 046 - Star
Crossover: The Last Starfighter
Author Notes: The game voiceover is available here
It was, of course, John Sheppard that brought the arcade machine to Atlantis. Rodney was only surprised that he'd talked Caldwell into transporting it on the Daedalus. It was installed in John's room; a project that took a couple of hours and cost him several powerbars and the last of the best coffee as Rodney struggled to fit it.
It was finally in place several choice swear words and a scuffed knuckle later. Rodney flopped onto the bed as John dropped a quarter into the machine. He sucked at his injured hand, only half listening to the voice-over as the credits rolled on the game.
“Defending the universe,” he scoffed as he examined the scrape, prodding it experimentally with a finger. “Like you don't do that enough.”
“This is different,” John told him.
“Yes, in that you get three lives,” Rodney said.
“Cynic.”
“Am not. I'm just realistic.”
A silence fell as John started to blow up pixelised alien ships. After a while, Rodney sat up and watched him. He observed the utter concentration John gave the game, noticed how he scanned the screen for the next wave - plotting and planning.
Rodney sighed; he wasn't good at looking at a situation tactically. Then again, it wasn't something taught alongside physics and maths and wormhole technology. He thought that was very lax of the educational bodies.
“Aw dammit!” John snapped, hands dropping off the controls as his last ship was destroyed.
“It's a lot easier with shields,” Rodney pointed out.
“I just need to get used to the controls.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“Shut up, McKay.” The tone was irritated, making Rodney smirk. He watched John drop another quarter into the machine.
“You know I could bypass the need for coins?” he asked.
“Why would I want you to do that? Putting in a quarter is part of the charm.”
“Of course it is.” Rodney watched the pixelised spaceship take off. “Are you going to let me have a go of that any time soon?”
“You? You can't fly in a straight line.”
“Oh ha ha. That's old and you know it. I fly perfectly well.”
John looked over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised. “Perfectly well?” he echoed. “Riiight. Your version of perfectly well is radically different to mine.”
“Whatever. It doesn't matter anyway; it's only a game.”
“That attitude won't get you on here any time soon,” John remarked. He twisted the controls, making the ship perform a barrel roll. He destroyed several enemy ships and then the big bad guy descended from the top.
Rodney shuffled to the edge of the bed, his eyes on John's progress. “Left!” he snapped.
“Backseat driving is not appreciated!”
“Right! No, right You're going to-” Rodney stopped as the ship cannoned into the mothership and blew up. “Told you so.”
“Oh right, fine,” John said testily. “You see if you can do any better.”
Bouncing to his feet, Rodney strolled confidently to the arcade machine. He whipped out him palm pc and connected it to the controls. It took him just a few second to bypass the need to enter a coin. He was aware of John huffing and folding his arms.
“That's cheating,” he said.
“I don't have any quarters,” Rodney reminded him. “I don't deal in toy money.”
“Very funny McKay. Let's see if you can shoot ships as well as you can shoot your mouth.”
Rodney smirked at that. The smile faded as he watched the instructions scroll up. “Greetings Starfighter,” the voice-over announced. “You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada. Get ready! Prepare for blast-off.”
“Sheesh,” Rodney muttered under his breath. “You know, the voice on this kinda reminds me of Anubis; all grand statements and over-acting. Actually, Goa'ulds in general tend to be like that.”
“Never met one,” John said as he sprawled on his bed. “And going on the SG reports I've read, I'm in no hurry to.”
“Definitely wise.”
The game began and Rodney's attention shifted to keeping his little ship away from the enemy fire. Unlike most things where he could do and continue to talk, the game required all his attention. Well it did if he was to beat John's score anyway.
He made the ship dodge and dive, firing indiscriminatingly. He worked his way through level after level, though even he would have admitted it was more luck than any particularly skill. Well, he'd admit it if his life was in danger.
Finally, he reached the mothership. He heard the springs in the bed creak as John obviously sat up and started to take notice. The knowledge that he was being watched laid heavily on Rodney's shoulders and he forced himself to breathe slowly and concentrate.
Putting the starship into a spin, Rodney loosed a barrage of shots. And somehow managed to destroy the mother ship. He blinked as the screen flashed up “Congratulations” in a cycle of colours.
“What?!” John cried. “Oh I don't believe it!”
“Ha!” Rodney crowed. “See? Flying in a straight line is highly over-rated.” He folded his arms and grinned at the spluttering colonel smugly.
“I fixed the controls,” John accused him. Rodney stiffened.
“I beg your pardon? Assuming that I actually cared about my result, which I didn't, why would I rig a computer game?”
“So you could win, like with the Ancient game.”
“I didn't cheat at that either!” Rodney retorted. “You're just a sore loser.”
“I am not! I just don't appreciate my so-called friends cheating on me.”
“I won at a computer game, I didn't take your girlfriend!”
“Oh like you could get a girl.”
“I could, if I wasn't so busy.”
“Yeah, right.”
They were so caught up in the argument they didn't hear the noise, like a car engine, growing steadily louder. Not until the lights of the vehicle blazed through the window. Then they stopped dead and stared out.
It was a car. Or at least, it looked like one. The fact it was hovering outside the window indicated it most certainly wasn't. Rodney looked at John, who stared back, mouth open.
“Well that's new,” John murmured. He went to the door to the balcony.
“Wait!” Rodney yelped, his eyes wide. John stopped and looked at him. “It could be dangerous.”
John stared at him for a moment, then pulled a face and stepped outside. Rodney glanced through the pane at the flying car. He wavered, then rolled his eyes, sighed and followed. Outside, the noise of the engine was pretty much deafening.
The... car shifted until its driver's sided was parallel to the balcony and then the door swung upwards. Inside was a man, or at least it looked like a man, aged approximately sixty years old going on the white hair and lined face. However he also wore an expression of almost childlike excitement.
“Greetings!” he said cheerfully.
Rodney stared at him and then looked at John, who shrugged and turned back.
“Hi, John Sheppard and this is Rodney McKay. W-who are you?”
“Me? Why I'm Centari. Now which of you managed to get the high score on the Starfighter game?”
“That was me,” Rodney said quickly, then wondered how this man knew about the game. “Um. Why d'you want to know?”
“Why? Why, my boy? Only because getting the high score is a huge achievement. Did you know that only a handful of species can get to the last level? Never mind actually destroying the Ko-Dan mothership. You can go far my boy, real far.”
Rodney folded his arms. “I did that already,” he said flatly. “I've learnt that 'going far' is a euphemism for 'experience extreme danger'.”
The wide smile on Centari's face faltered. “Oh, now come on my boy! Think of the opportunities.”
“Which are what exactly?”
“Well...” Centari fished for a line. “Fame! Fortune! Beautiful women!”
“Sounds right up your street, McKay,” John muttered under his breath.
“Oh shut up,” Rodney retorted and then looked back at the man in the car. “Century-”
“Centari.”
“Whatever. As much as I appreciate you coming from - wherever it is you come from - I think I live without those kind of opportunities. Seriously, I have all the excitement I can handle here on Atlantis. And anyway-” and he clapped an arm around John's shoulders “-Colonel Sheppard is the real fly boy. Talk to him about the fame, fortune and women.”
John stood there sputtering and Rodney grinned, spun on his heel and strolled off the balcony. The last thing he heard as he exited John's room was the colonel desperately trying to talk himself out of recruitment.
Spoilers: None
Word Count: 1453
Written for: crossovers100
Prompt: 046 - Star
Crossover: The Last Starfighter
Author Notes: The game voiceover is available here
It was, of course, John Sheppard that brought the arcade machine to Atlantis. Rodney was only surprised that he'd talked Caldwell into transporting it on the Daedalus. It was installed in John's room; a project that took a couple of hours and cost him several powerbars and the last of the best coffee as Rodney struggled to fit it.
It was finally in place several choice swear words and a scuffed knuckle later. Rodney flopped onto the bed as John dropped a quarter into the machine. He sucked at his injured hand, only half listening to the voice-over as the credits rolled on the game.
“Defending the universe,” he scoffed as he examined the scrape, prodding it experimentally with a finger. “Like you don't do that enough.”
“This is different,” John told him.
“Yes, in that you get three lives,” Rodney said.
“Cynic.”
“Am not. I'm just realistic.”
A silence fell as John started to blow up pixelised alien ships. After a while, Rodney sat up and watched him. He observed the utter concentration John gave the game, noticed how he scanned the screen for the next wave - plotting and planning.
Rodney sighed; he wasn't good at looking at a situation tactically. Then again, it wasn't something taught alongside physics and maths and wormhole technology. He thought that was very lax of the educational bodies.
“Aw dammit!” John snapped, hands dropping off the controls as his last ship was destroyed.
“It's a lot easier with shields,” Rodney pointed out.
“I just need to get used to the controls.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls.”
“Shut up, McKay.” The tone was irritated, making Rodney smirk. He watched John drop another quarter into the machine.
“You know I could bypass the need for coins?” he asked.
“Why would I want you to do that? Putting in a quarter is part of the charm.”
“Of course it is.” Rodney watched the pixelised spaceship take off. “Are you going to let me have a go of that any time soon?”
“You? You can't fly in a straight line.”
“Oh ha ha. That's old and you know it. I fly perfectly well.”
John looked over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised. “Perfectly well?” he echoed. “Riiight. Your version of perfectly well is radically different to mine.”
“Whatever. It doesn't matter anyway; it's only a game.”
“That attitude won't get you on here any time soon,” John remarked. He twisted the controls, making the ship perform a barrel roll. He destroyed several enemy ships and then the big bad guy descended from the top.
Rodney shuffled to the edge of the bed, his eyes on John's progress. “Left!” he snapped.
“Backseat driving is not appreciated!”
“Right! No, right You're going to-” Rodney stopped as the ship cannoned into the mothership and blew up. “Told you so.”
“Oh right, fine,” John said testily. “You see if you can do any better.”
Bouncing to his feet, Rodney strolled confidently to the arcade machine. He whipped out him palm pc and connected it to the controls. It took him just a few second to bypass the need to enter a coin. He was aware of John huffing and folding his arms.
“That's cheating,” he said.
“I don't have any quarters,” Rodney reminded him. “I don't deal in toy money.”
“Very funny McKay. Let's see if you can shoot ships as well as you can shoot your mouth.”
Rodney smirked at that. The smile faded as he watched the instructions scroll up. “Greetings Starfighter,” the voice-over announced. “You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada. Get ready! Prepare for blast-off.”
“Sheesh,” Rodney muttered under his breath. “You know, the voice on this kinda reminds me of Anubis; all grand statements and over-acting. Actually, Goa'ulds in general tend to be like that.”
“Never met one,” John said as he sprawled on his bed. “And going on the SG reports I've read, I'm in no hurry to.”
“Definitely wise.”
The game began and Rodney's attention shifted to keeping his little ship away from the enemy fire. Unlike most things where he could do and continue to talk, the game required all his attention. Well it did if he was to beat John's score anyway.
He made the ship dodge and dive, firing indiscriminatingly. He worked his way through level after level, though even he would have admitted it was more luck than any particularly skill. Well, he'd admit it if his life was in danger.
Finally, he reached the mothership. He heard the springs in the bed creak as John obviously sat up and started to take notice. The knowledge that he was being watched laid heavily on Rodney's shoulders and he forced himself to breathe slowly and concentrate.
Putting the starship into a spin, Rodney loosed a barrage of shots. And somehow managed to destroy the mother ship. He blinked as the screen flashed up “Congratulations” in a cycle of colours.
“What?!” John cried. “Oh I don't believe it!”
“Ha!” Rodney crowed. “See? Flying in a straight line is highly over-rated.” He folded his arms and grinned at the spluttering colonel smugly.
“I fixed the controls,” John accused him. Rodney stiffened.
“I beg your pardon? Assuming that I actually cared about my result, which I didn't, why would I rig a computer game?”
“So you could win, like with the Ancient game.”
“I didn't cheat at that either!” Rodney retorted. “You're just a sore loser.”
“I am not! I just don't appreciate my so-called friends cheating on me.”
“I won at a computer game, I didn't take your girlfriend!”
“Oh like you could get a girl.”
“I could, if I wasn't so busy.”
“Yeah, right.”
They were so caught up in the argument they didn't hear the noise, like a car engine, growing steadily louder. Not until the lights of the vehicle blazed through the window. Then they stopped dead and stared out.
It was a car. Or at least, it looked like one. The fact it was hovering outside the window indicated it most certainly wasn't. Rodney looked at John, who stared back, mouth open.
“Well that's new,” John murmured. He went to the door to the balcony.
“Wait!” Rodney yelped, his eyes wide. John stopped and looked at him. “It could be dangerous.”
John stared at him for a moment, then pulled a face and stepped outside. Rodney glanced through the pane at the flying car. He wavered, then rolled his eyes, sighed and followed. Outside, the noise of the engine was pretty much deafening.
The... car shifted until its driver's sided was parallel to the balcony and then the door swung upwards. Inside was a man, or at least it looked like a man, aged approximately sixty years old going on the white hair and lined face. However he also wore an expression of almost childlike excitement.
“Greetings!” he said cheerfully.
Rodney stared at him and then looked at John, who shrugged and turned back.
“Hi, John Sheppard and this is Rodney McKay. W-who are you?”
“Me? Why I'm Centari. Now which of you managed to get the high score on the Starfighter game?”
“That was me,” Rodney said quickly, then wondered how this man knew about the game. “Um. Why d'you want to know?”
“Why? Why, my boy? Only because getting the high score is a huge achievement. Did you know that only a handful of species can get to the last level? Never mind actually destroying the Ko-Dan mothership. You can go far my boy, real far.”
Rodney folded his arms. “I did that already,” he said flatly. “I've learnt that 'going far' is a euphemism for 'experience extreme danger'.”
The wide smile on Centari's face faltered. “Oh, now come on my boy! Think of the opportunities.”
“Which are what exactly?”
“Well...” Centari fished for a line. “Fame! Fortune! Beautiful women!”
“Sounds right up your street, McKay,” John muttered under his breath.
“Oh shut up,” Rodney retorted and then looked back at the man in the car. “Century-”
“Centari.”
“Whatever. As much as I appreciate you coming from - wherever it is you come from - I think I live without those kind of opportunities. Seriously, I have all the excitement I can handle here on Atlantis. And anyway-” and he clapped an arm around John's shoulders “-Colonel Sheppard is the real fly boy. Talk to him about the fame, fortune and women.”
John stood there sputtering and Rodney grinned, spun on his heel and strolled off the balcony. The last thing he heard as he exited John's room was the colonel desperately trying to talk himself out of recruitment.