Unhealthy Competition

Unhealthy Competition is the seventh chapter of The Two Cats and was published on August 2, 2019.

Intro
Expi and Mariko go to Furmart one day, where Mariko learns about a competition for the video game "Sooper Epic Kart Racers," with the winner getting a $50 gift card.

Miguel Buster
When she gets home, she decides to start practicing and does pretty well when playing online, however is faced with one other player that goes by the username of "miguelb." She does get a little worried due to her inability to beat this other player, however shrugs it off due to the unlikeliness of seeing this player in real life. The next day, however, she goes to sign up for the tournament and is shocked to find out that someone by the name of "Miguel Buster" has entered, likely relating to the username of "miguelb." Mariko continues practicing as hard as she can to try and beat miguelb, but whenever she faces him online they both end up being almost neck-and-neck in the races.

The Tournament
On the day of the tournament, Mariko plays a few rounds and is moved up the final 2, where she faces off against Miguel Buster. Both come really close throughout the race, however after the first 2 laps, Mariko feels that her competitiveness is ruining the game for her and making it less fun. She ends up deciding to forfeit the race, but Miguel Buster decides to declare a draw instead, leaving them both to end up getting a $50 gift card (to the manager's hesitation). Mariko and Miguel talk after the tournament, and agree to continue facing each other online.

Trivia

 * This chapter takes place at the same time as Stop Thief! and certain lines of dialogue and events are referenced from that chapter.
 * The controllers that are being held in the title drawing are similar to the Sony PlayStation 3 controllers, albeit the one Mariko is holding seems to be missing the button labels.