"Oh no!" Paddle Dan shouted as the ball was flung to the bottom half of the
screen. "I am doomed!"
There was a silent pause, and then the sound that Paddle Dan dreaded.
Boop.
As the game ended, the Ancient Pong Master waddled up to Paddle Dan, just in the way one would expect a vertical line to walk.
"You still have much to learn, young Grasshopper, about Pong-Fu. You confidently slung the ball to the top of the screen, expecting me to return it in the standard fashion. Your eyes were blind to the SPIN I put on the ball. It was that that was your defeat."
"I am sorry, Pong Master! I was overconfident! Forgive me!" "It is not I that must forgive you, it is you that must forgive you. You must be ready for the Grand Pong-Fu tournament that is to be held in one week. Now let us practice again."
As the screen faded back to a dark scoreboard and the ball hung in the center of the screen, Paddle Dan thought back to the years he had been training with the Ancient Pong Master. He has always been a failure in the Pong Master's eyes, having been raised an orphan with little enough money left by his parents, it seemed, to invest in his training. Dan never knew his parents, or even if he had any. His oldest memory was the Ancient Pong Master teaching him about corner shots. He also had little skill, and had not yet defeated the Ancient Pong Master in all his years of training. The Master was getting old, ever so much more than twenty. He did not have long left to teach Dan what he knew.
"Someday," Dan thought, "I will be the greatest Pong player of all! Now I must PROVE it to the old bat! Huy-YA!"
The game begun as the ball zoomed toward Dan. He caught it with his corner and it went flying up. It bounced off of the ceiling and headed straight for the Ancient Pong Master's wall.
Like lightning, the Ancient Pong Master flew down and deflected the ball with a mighty spin! It bounced off the floor, then the ceiling, then the floor, then the ceiling, then the floor, and on and on and on!
Paddle Dan did not know what to expect! Where would the ball end up? Thinking quickly, he followed the ball, up, and down, up, and down, until it got closer and closer and.
PING! Dan reflected it with his very corner, traveling upward quickly! The ball streaked forward fast and.
Boop.
DAN HAD WON! He started jumping for joy, nearly leaping off of his single vertical plane. The screen faded away as he continued his victory dance.
But all was not right.
The Ancient Pong Master lay in the corner, breathing heavily. Dan rushed in a rather awkward way horizontally over to him.
"You are re.ady. you have truly defeated me, and all of my skill is yours. Now it is my time to pass on."
"No, Ancient Pong Master! Where will I go without you?"
"Go. to the competition. and win. make a name for yourself. my. grandson."
His breathing ceased, and a terrible echo of his final breath filled the lonely dojo.
TO BE CONTINUED?
There was a silent pause, and then the sound that Paddle Dan dreaded.
Boop.
As the game ended, the Ancient Pong Master waddled up to Paddle Dan, just in the way one would expect a vertical line to walk.
"You still have much to learn, young Grasshopper, about Pong-Fu. You confidently slung the ball to the top of the screen, expecting me to return it in the standard fashion. Your eyes were blind to the SPIN I put on the ball. It was that that was your defeat."
"I am sorry, Pong Master! I was overconfident! Forgive me!" "It is not I that must forgive you, it is you that must forgive you. You must be ready for the Grand Pong-Fu tournament that is to be held in one week. Now let us practice again."
As the screen faded back to a dark scoreboard and the ball hung in the center of the screen, Paddle Dan thought back to the years he had been training with the Ancient Pong Master. He has always been a failure in the Pong Master's eyes, having been raised an orphan with little enough money left by his parents, it seemed, to invest in his training. Dan never knew his parents, or even if he had any. His oldest memory was the Ancient Pong Master teaching him about corner shots. He also had little skill, and had not yet defeated the Ancient Pong Master in all his years of training. The Master was getting old, ever so much more than twenty. He did not have long left to teach Dan what he knew.
"Someday," Dan thought, "I will be the greatest Pong player of all! Now I must PROVE it to the old bat! Huy-YA!"
The game begun as the ball zoomed toward Dan. He caught it with his corner and it went flying up. It bounced off of the ceiling and headed straight for the Ancient Pong Master's wall.
Like lightning, the Ancient Pong Master flew down and deflected the ball with a mighty spin! It bounced off the floor, then the ceiling, then the floor, then the ceiling, then the floor, and on and on and on!
Paddle Dan did not know what to expect! Where would the ball end up? Thinking quickly, he followed the ball, up, and down, up, and down, until it got closer and closer and.
PING! Dan reflected it with his very corner, traveling upward quickly! The ball streaked forward fast and.
Boop.
DAN HAD WON! He started jumping for joy, nearly leaping off of his single vertical plane. The screen faded away as he continued his victory dance.
But all was not right.
The Ancient Pong Master lay in the corner, breathing heavily. Dan rushed in a rather awkward way horizontally over to him.
"You are re.ady. you have truly defeated me, and all of my skill is yours. Now it is my time to pass on."
"No, Ancient Pong Master! Where will I go without you?"
"Go. to the competition. and win. make a name for yourself. my. grandson."
His breathing ceased, and a terrible echo of his final breath filled the lonely dojo.
TO BE CONTINUED?