A Sniper Duel

by Dancing-Mantis

This is the story of two gamers who play Halo, and are rivals when it comes to sniping. Chapter 1 is told from the perspective of the 1st player, chapter 2 is told from the perspective of the 2nd player, and chapter 3 is told from both perspectives.

3. The Finals

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

Mantis stayed where he was. He was ready to go. This was it. He picked up the controller and followed the announcers' instructions on what rules to set up. There were 50 Shields, Infinite Grenades, and All Vehicles. The match would be played in Blood Gulch. Perfect. Mantis was extremely proficient at this map. The game started. He ran to the Warthog and sped up into the darkened hill beyond Red Base. He had with him a Sniper Rifle and his trusty MA5B. He swept his scope across the map. Nothing yet. The people he was playing with really knew how to hide. There, the tip of someone's helmet peeked from behind a small barrier on Red Base. He pulled the trigger and smirked as the round caught the hapless player in the head. Takeshi was not as confident. His fingers twitched, throwing off his aim on clean kills more than once. Not once did Mantis or Takeshi hit each other in the first round. Mantis got 1st, Takeshi got 2nd. They and 6 others, out of the original 16, made it to the second round. Again, they didn't hit each other. Semifinal, 4 players total. These guys were tough. One of them had grabbed an Optic Camouflage. Mantis watched as he ran into the shadows. This made him completely invisible. The invisible player swept his scope, saw the the other player, who was perched in Red Base, and fired. He got the kill, but Mantis saw the trail. He fired once, breaking his opponents Optic Camo, rendering him visible. He lined up his crosshairs with his head and fired. It was more cat and mouse games like this for 10 minutes before the match was ended. Takeshi 1st. Mantis 2nd. The volunteers checked the controllers and clothing of both of them, to make sure they weren't cheating. They both were found to be fine. The map was changed, as well as the rules. They now played on Battle Creek. A small map, but designed for sniping. Plus, there was only one kill to win. Take climbed up on top of the rock bridge. He had specifically chosen a color to blend in with it. He was hard to see. He trained his scope on various spots, hoping to find Mantis. He turned around, expecting a surprise attack, but the attack didn't come. He went down from his spot. He was a lot easier to see now. He switched to his MA5B and crept into Blue Base. Mantis was in here. All he had to do was find him and take him out. Mantis wasn't expecting a direct attack. Mantis walked through blue base. He was stocking on ammo and grenades. He walked down one hallway and came face to face with Take. They were both a blur of motion as they fired blindly at each other. Take ran back and crawled behind a barricade. He switched to his sniper rifle and judged where Mantis would be. He leapt out and fired once. He looked again. Head Shot. That was it. The one kill. He had won. He was the best sniper in the country. He dropped the controller and leaned back. He realized he was standing up, crouching. He sunk back into the chair and breathed a sigh of relief. Mantis was not as relieved though. He had worked his tactics to a fine dust. There was no way he could lose, but he did. Take knew that Mantis was going to do that, and he decided to get the jump on him first.

But how?

There was no way that Take knew what Mantis was up to. He had given to signals. It was odd that he had come over to play Halo with him, since everyone knew that he hated his competition. Take was smart. Yes, Mantis realized. That was how he knew. He had changed his own tactics. That was it.

Now he had lost.

This pretty much made Mantis snap...