He stood back up, and smiled wickedly while drawing out one last weapon. It was a hammer of sorts. I recognized it. It was a mod hammer! Those were reserved for game creators!
I waited for the creators to rush in, to shut down the match and confiscate the item, but nothing happened.
benboy755: You don’t have to be a mod to have one of these. You just gotta know the right guys.
Diglett was next. He was a legend, but no longer a star player. He just had built up a reputation and score so high that he had never been topped. I had been the most surprised by his acceptance, but I guess he figured it was time to defend the title.
He did a good job of it. His was the first match that lasted two minutes.
Throughout it all, I’d finish the round and exchange a few comments before I took on my next opponent. And it was in those comments that I learned who these people really were. Some of them cursed me, some of them grudgingly admitted it had been a good fight, one of them even wished me luck! I had liked to lump all the greats together. But they weren’t all the same. I wasn’t even sure I could put them into categories anymore.
But this wasn’t just about the greats. It was about me. It was about the triumph of a South American kid in a world of winners.
There were guys running stats the whole time, but I decided I’d rather wait until afterwards to hear the outcome.
Officials had shown up, game creators, coders, designers, and moderators. They were working overtime to make sure the game didn’t crash, and also were running diagnostics over and over on me and the other gamers, checking for hacks. Somehow I got the feeling they were running more on me. I, after all, did manage to pull off a backwards flip kill on TolkienNerds, which was likely a first.
Slowly it wound its way towards the close. Finally there were just two left: Benboy and Skul. Benboy was up first, and he still seemed cocky enough. That was surprising enough. At this point I wouldn’t have blamed them for backing out. Sure, their reputation would be ruined. But at least their score would be salvaged.
But fight he was determined to do. He took a pair of pistols that were only one of his many special items. He ran a black market on the boards, using a currency of his own devising. Somehow all the best weapons seemed to end up in his hands eventually.
Benboy was not a predictable gamer. He knew how to win, and he knew how to pick apart his opponents as well as I did. This match wasn’t a matter of me running through a list of commands. This was improv. This was a skill round.
TheGreatCon: May the best gamer win.
benboy755: I’d rather that was me than you.
TheGreatCon: Well, there’s a fast way to determine that. Bring it on, cowboy.
He fired a quick round. I ducked, spun and released a boomerang. It whizzed by his head, he never flinched.
benboy755: Sure you’re not an Australian?
TheGreatCon: Sure you don’t want to use a dupe account for this fight?
Benboy also had a reputation as being one of the best conversant gamers, managing to hold conversations while thrashing opponents. It probably helped that he had a voice-to-text convertor.
I did some fancy maneuvers with my sharpened boomerang, which was merely me showing off. I couldn’t resist coding in a few useless showy moves last minute. He fired again, then pulled a hammer out of his armory and hurled it at me. I leapt over the bullets, which had been aimed low, and then as the hammer flew past I reached out and karate-chopped it out of the air. I turned, while drawing my sword, and blocked an incoming blow that I didn’t have to see to know it was there. His…sharp thingy bounced off my weapon, and he did a quick backhand. I parried and kicked at his shins. He stepped back, and sliced at my leg. I did a quick somersault over his unidentifiable sharp object, and swiped at his legs. He leapt over the blade and did a hard overhead swipe. I rolled to the side, springing to my feet. He used his other hand to nick me with a knife, but I quickly retaliated with a hard blow to his hand. He thrust with his swordish thing, I knocked it aside, and threw the boomerang. It missed his head as he ducked to the side. I parried another blow, and caught the returning boomerang.
It had taken me ages to master the boomerang. Do you know how hard it is to throw one in real life? Try mastering throwing one in-game! All the physics did apply in there, though, so it was merely a matter of the correct flick of the wrist. Oh, yeah, and remembering to catch it on the return.
It was slashes and parries, slices and ducks, weapon-switches and witty dialogue for a solid five minutes. I kept at it with the boomerang, changing my main weapon to keep pace with his switches, but maintaining the sharpened wooden crescent.
benboy755: Okay, that’s it kid. I’m bringing out the big guns.
And with that he drew out a totally uninspiring tree branch and proceeded to beat at me with it.
1. Ouch, that's a burn. 2. Yeah that would be helpful, unless it misshears something you said, that could be awkward. 3. Not exactly what I'd call the big guns, but ok.
I quickly adjusted to a short sword and attempted to trim it down, but it resisted. I soon came to realize it was a higher tier, and things started to look a bit down. The branch wasn’t too thick, but very leafy. And all the leaves acted a little knives, it was like a giant, rather unpredictable flail. I quickly pulled out a shield and went on the defensive for a while. I kept up a barrage of boomerang shots, throwing a second into rotation. It was kind of like juggling, I always had one in the air. I slipped a third in briefly, but missed it coming back in at one point, and almost lost my head.
The crowd was breathless. Had I finally met my match? Was this the end of the line?
I blocked a few more slashes. My hit points were racking up. I had to get this thing away from him. I did a quick switch to a wooden shield, and took one last slash. His leaf slivers stuck fast in the wood. I yanked hard and fast, and then thrust back. The wood flew from his hands, and then as I stepped back in, it jabbed him in the stomach. A boomerang whizzed over his head on its return journey, and embedded itself into the shield. I dropped the whole lot.
He stood back up, and smiled wickedly while drawing out one last weapon. It was a hammer of sorts. I recognized it. It was a mod hammer! Those were reserved for game creators!
I waited for the creators to rush in, to shut down the match and confiscate the item, but nothing happened.
benboy755: You don’t have to be a mod to have one of these. You just gotta know the right guys.
If I were? It's a string of jokes I'm compiling as I think of them. Here's another:
"My off-road vehicle was stolen while I visited a friend in the largest city in Washington state. Indeed, I was Jeepless in Seattle."
Then I would ask for the title so I could plan on listening to it sometime. Oooooh, interesting. : D XD They all have a similar theme or a commonality then?
If I were? It's a string of jokes I'm compiling as I think of them. Here's another:
"My off-road vehicle was stolen while I visited a friend in the largest city in Washington state. Indeed, I was Jeepless in Seattle."
Then I would ask for the title so I could plan on listening to it sometime. Oooooh, interesting. : D XD They all have a similar theme or a commonality then?
Good, that's what I would do. Thanks.: D
They're all plays on the title Sleepless in Seattle.
"Wise words by wise men write wise deeds in wise pen." —Lollimon the Wise
Then I would ask for the title so I could plan on listening to it sometime. Oooooh, interesting. : D XD They all have a similar theme or a commonality then?
Good, that's what I would do. Thanks.: D
They're all plays on the title Sleepless in Seattle.
Time to catch up! ) 
![[fp]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/nnJcspnhTDEdUFpOzKkD.png)
