A shot rung out. "Killing Spree!" the voice of the game announcer said. The other players voiced their exasperation. Mantis was too good. He planned to change that. There. He had gotten full of himself. He was in the open on a balcony. He applied a small amount of pressure to the trigger. Was he going to move? Would he retaliate angrily? He decided to take the risks. He pulled the trigger. His shot echoed and faded away. KILLED: Mantis appeared on his screen. Mantis looked over at him. He simply smiled and waved, trying to be polite. He went back to the screen. He began picking off other players one by one. Eventually, it ended up between Mantis and himself. Mantis was getting agitated, and Takeshi used it to his advantage. He continued to kill him, until he finally cracked, running around the map with an MA5B. Remember, moving targets are easier to see, but harder to hit. He settled his scope along the path of Mantis search for him. Mantis got closer to the spot, and Takeshi gripped the controller in apprehension. Would he miss and give away his position? He shot, scoring a headshot. The PostGame Carnage Report appeared, showing Takeshi's win. 49 to 50.

"Takeshi Sama wins by one point! Is this the end of Mantis?"
Yes.

He was going to bring Mantis down, and use him to catapult himself to the top.

He continued to play idly. He had no tactics to practice. He simply played. He enjoyed it, and that was the best thing for him. He hung out with friends, shopped, did everything a normal teen would. He was sitting at the kitchen table, reading a book that a friend had lent him. "Enders Game". Good book. He liked it. The phone rang. Probably a friend, he thought as he answered it.

"Hello?"
"Is this Takeshi Sama?"
"Yes, may I ask who's calling?"

"This is Mantis, you beat me in the last Tourney"
"Oh yeah! That was a great match! What do you need?"

"I was just wondering if you'd like to hang out sometime, maybe play Halo or something..."

"Hey, that sounds cool, how about tomorrow?"

"Awesome, I'll see you at your house!"
"Kay, bye!"
"Bye."

So the great Mantis wanted to hang out with him. He understood almost right away. He was trying to learn his tactics, and exploit his weaknesses. He laughed. He had none to exploit. He was going to bring Mantis down, whether Mantis liked it or not.

They were seated on his couch. They were playing Halo. Take fell into a trance-like state, is only movements were in his fingers. 4 shots near his position. He aimed for where they came from, but his hand twitched as he pulled the trigger. Clean miss. Sweat started down his face. He thought Mantis had found something out. Mantis was gone now. He'd find him, though. He kept on sweeping the map. No luck, he wasn't there. He was hit from behind. Too many bullets, too fast. His shield dropped. He spun around, hoping to get a shot off, but Mantis was too quick. He smacked him in the head with the MA5B. He was down, that was it. How did he not see it? That wasn't the point, though; he had to keep playing. Slowly, Mantis killed him more and more. He fell out of the trance. Mantis won, by 7. That was it. Was it maybe a lucky break that Take won in the tournament, or was Mantis something else today? Mantis set down his controller, and put on his jacket. He thanked Take for letting him hang out and play Halo, and left. He was in shock. Mantis just beat him? He kept the game on, and had a friend over. He sniped and sniped and sniped and sniped. He had to win the Nationals. If he didn't all of his hard work would have gone to nothing. He wasn't going to let that happen.

He sat down in the comfy chairs. He'd been here before, and he hadn't won, but this time, it was different. He idly played, owning the competition. He looked around. Mantis was already here, staring at everything. Good, that would give Take the edge. Mantis was nervous. He had already walked up and down the convention hall getting free stuff and pictures with booth-babes. Now, he was going to win a hundred thousand dollars. He was going to have all the booth babes he could ever want.

"Will all the participants for the Halo Sniper Matches please find a seat and prepare!!!...."