First Person Narrator: Italic
After a good night sleep, I wake up to see a set of breakfast on the bed parallel to mine (In case you were wondering, that's Evelyn's bed). Ah Breakfast, the perfect way to… wait breakfast!? Normally I've never been made breakfast that's all for me. Thinking it was Nora, I was surprised to find that the note was written from someone named "Fireballin'." Considering that Nora had nothing to do with Fire, I knew that it had to have been someone else. It said: "I cooked you breakfast so you won't have an excuse when I beat your ass in the tournament. Love, Fireballin'."
Yeah, I'm confused too. Anyway, with what was written, I could easily deduce the fact that none of the food was poison. If he/she wanted to beat me fair, how could I do that when I'm dead. Being that it was around 9:00 AM, I had two hours of practice before I made my way over to the convention. Considering how close the convention was to Akina's convention, it wasn't but a block or two for the rest of the team.
When the clock reached 11:00, I made my way over to the convention since it opened at 11:00, but the tournament didn't start until 12:00. I walked in the door only to find the rest of my team already there and fighting each other. When I (KaShiNobi) went to go sign my name, I noticed that there were already four names included Azul's (Starly Von Gouda), Evelyn's (Eeveeleen), Jinn's (Don't Ask), and I saw a familiar username: Fireballin'. I was surprised to know that whoever's name that may be, he/she was not exaggerating.
"Ah, hey Trey. It took you long enough." Said Evelyn while playing a match with Azul and Jinn. "Eevee, why you so mean to me." "It's because you're so fun to mess with." She said. "Evelyn, that just sounding wrong on so many levels." Said Azul. "Oh Azul, always interpreting things incorrectly. Hm… looks like you're fun to mess with too." Said Evelyn. "Oh, you are going down." Said Azul. "You're all going down if you think practicing a 1 v. 1 v. 1 is viable." I said. "Well Kai, if you're such a master mind of this meta game, why don't you join in for a 1 v. 1 v. 1 v. 1." Said Jinn. "Oh yeah, I forgot that you're new to this as well. That would explain why you missed my point entirely."
As I said that, Sun came through the front door to sign up. "Ah, so you did decide to come." I said. "Well of course I did, I told you I love this game." He said. "Well I didn't doubt you, but usually people say that they'll show but then they don't." I said. "Oh I gotcha. Well I'm here early so I guess we can set up and start doing some friendlies1." "That's the beauty of having five TVs."
As I load up the game, we pick our characters. Sun goes for Diddy Kong and I stay ground with Sonic. The rules are two stocks2 with a six-minute timer and we're only allowed to play on legal stages3. We can choose between eight stages and we usually play rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock to decide who picks the stage because it's just a friendly match. In this case, Sun won so he chose to play on Battlefield.
With the start of the match, I basically just move very quickly around the field while Sun tried to play keep away with Diddy Kong's peanut popgun and bananas. Sun seems to understand how to use Diddy Kong at both close and long range, but it's no trouble for Sonic's god like mobility on the ground. Sonic is obviously the fastest character in the game and with some good range and power as well. Being a bit of a light weight, he can't afford to take much damage or else he'll easily get knocked off the stage. I tend to play Sonic meaningfully, by that I mean hit and run. It made for a long match, but I managed to place my kill blows to beat Sun.
"Wow, that was close, let's go again." Said Sun. After a few more friendly matches, the place began to fill up with people and before they knew it, they had to get up so the people here could start. There were around sixteen people there for the tournament, making for an even bracket. None of the familiar faces went up against one another. I fought my way through a bunch of Clouds (the character, not the thing) however Annabelle, Evelyn, and Jay lost their first rounds but this tournament is a double elimination4, giving them a second chance. Evelyn and Jay were only there for the fun of it, and it showed in how far they got: nowhere.
Azul did in fact make it past the first two rounds but was stopped by... Yang?! Yes, it turns out Fireballin' is in fact Yang. The only reason why she was in the Loser's Bracket5 was because she fought some guy with the gamer tag: Achillekos who played Rayonetta. Rayonetta is probably the worst match up for Yang's main: Captain Falcon. Yang was fighting her way through the loser's bracket, but strangely, the anxiety of being in such a terrible place did not get to her. Achillekos sent Sun(Stowaway) to the Loser's Bracket and that's where he came across and lost to Yang.
I fought Achillekos and despite Rayonetta's annoyance, I managed to go 3-2 with Sonic and managed to beat him. Now that sent Achillekos to Loser's Finals and that is where Yang is. I thought she was going to lose after she lost the first match. But, out of nowhere, she pulled out her trap card… I mean true main: Sonic. Yep, she stole my main. However, Yang seemed to play much more aggressively than I play Sonic. Once she went Sonic, she dominated with a 3-1 victory. I was scared because that was better than What damage I did. I didn't let it get to me as I had cockiness that I was going to win.
Now, since she came from Loser's, she had to get two full sets off me: win three games before I did to reset and win three more games to win. See, the Grand Finals match has two giant TVs, making the battle feel more engaging and intense. We start the battle and I usually end up running away to wait for my chance, but Yang was relentless and wanted to play nothing but up close in this ditto. I can in fact avoid her but we're the same character, so it was a bit hard to do that. With the repetitive nature of this fight, the matches were at 2-2. I won the first two, but she got stronger after those two losses. We began the match. But as it started, I noticed that she started to play defensively and in a much more balanced way. Despite my efforts to try and do the same, she somehow managed to beat me at my own game. She knows reverse psychology in the sense that to defeat your enemy, you must become your enemy. I guess, I played her game. Now, I wish I were more patient, otherwise, I wouldn't make the dumb mistake in switching characters. My Diddy Kong was good and I do recall doing a Diddy Ditto with Sun, but I counter pick Diddy Kong. While said character might be Sonic's worst match up, Yang didn't seem to be phased. She took those three wins like it was nothing. The third was a JV 3 stock6. I was impatient and made that classic rookie mistake. Yang was beyond ecstatic while my pride saw its biggest test. The Top 4 get some lien from the pot (This tournament was not free). While I did get a profit of $90, Yang got $190. As it was around 6:00, me and my team went back to Beacon.
We were the first out of the convention and since we usually have our team study sessions for our exams, we thought tonight was the best night. Azul and Evelyn know that this is what happens when my pride dies and simply isolating ourselves would be best.
We got back to Beacon and took our dinners from the cafeteria up to our dorm and studied, primarily for Oobleck's history exam as none of us had any real issue with any of the other classes, except Azul and Evelyn with Math, but since I'm a god when it comes to math, I had no problem helping them on that spectrum. We may have studied for about an hour before we heard Yang talking to her team about the tournament. I tried not to let it phase me and I just continued with the textbook. "Wow this is a lot of material to cover." I said. "Trey, even though I have his class at a different time, he still talks in that insane speed, almost like he's cramming to make us cram." Said Azul.
"That's a good way of putting it." I said. "Kai, are you feeling any better since that loss?" Evelyn asked. "Yeah, I'm starting to feel better. I'm happy for Yang. She did make me breakfast this morning to keep me from making excuses. I don't have anyone else to blame for myself and losing my patience. Guys, if you want to gain anything from today: never lose your patience, it's a virtue, and a helpful god sent." As I said this, the team kind of continued with the textbook. I just skimmed through the rest of it and just decided to look it over tomorrow. As for now, I need to sleep.
1. Friendlies: Matches that are just for fun.
2. Stocks: In game lives.
3. Legal stages: Stages that lack any unfair advantages.
4. Double Elimination: Tournament with a loser's bracket.
5. Loser's Bracket: If ever you are to lose once in a double elimination, you are sent here.
6. JV 3 stock: Win without taken any damage.