Slippery bastard.
Ryan evaded the grab attempt, slipping behind Bones and pulling out his FAMAS before she could react and opening fire, filling her full of lead. It wasn’t the super she had expected him to use, which was probably the entire point of using it, nor one that Akeno was even aware that he had to begin with. Lack of match-up familiarity was killing her as much as anything this round, her lack of experience playing against this character meaning she kept being caught off guard.
Not a lot of people played the character, as it turned out. The exact opposite of Karen in that regard.
Akeno rolled away from Ryan, gaining some distance as she recovered from being riddled with bullets. She began to move backwards and forwards, dancing around between the edge of her attack range and outside of it; back a step away, then step forward again, then back again, dash forward, another step back. A constant series of motions, hopefully keeping Temari on her toes and making it hard to discern if she was going to attack of not while buying Akeno time to think.
Or just to annoy her opponent. Whichever worked.
She wasn’t sure which approach to use, she wasn’t sure which approach her opponent expected her to use and she hadn’t had the best track record with managing to fool them. Ryan was out of super meter and couldn’t use his glitched counter again, meaning she could use arrows again. Bones didn’t have many projectiles, roughly a quivers worth actually, but the ones she did have were powerful and useful. She could fire an arrow to break open her opponent’s guard then rush in for the kill, or fire it at their feet to limit their movements and achieve much the same. Yeah, that would probably work.
Akeno dashed backwards once more, placing herself outside the range of Ryan’s own forward dash but not so far that he’d be able to dodge the arrow entirely. A quarter forward circle input saw Bones pulling out her bow again, quickly knocking an arrow and preparing to fire at her opponent. Once it was fired there would be a few frames of recovery animation before she could move again, which was a prime opportunity for Temari to strike assuming she didn’t have an arrow lodged in her by then. After that Akeno would be able to dash forward and follow up on the projectile with another combo to finish the game.
Or, she could use the bow animation as a fake-out and cancel the arrow before it fired, because Ryan had the ability to catch and return projectiles and she hadn’t forgotten that fact.
She was hoping Temari thought she had though.
Instead she rolled forward, Bones diving low to the ground at her opponent before lashing out at their shins with her shivs.
Evo Moment #96
Private Lobby
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Wham Yubeesling
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For a second, Verity had thought she was going to get one over on Bones again.
It played out so perfectly in her head. The fact that she’d used the glitched counter super earlier meant that Mean_Green_Satan_Machine23 might not have known about the regular ‘fuck you over if you try and spam projectiles’ move, because while their Bones was good (seriously, what the fuck, Verity had stomped on their Stephanie so hard with her off-main and now that she was on her main Verity was the one getting stomped?) they had a pretty clear blind spot in what bullshit Ryan could pull off. Seriously. They’d basically fallen for every trick except ‘try and throw projectile then have it get thrown right back at them.’ When that animation started, Verity thought she was going to get a bingo. That she might have actually turned this match around. She did the input for the counter. Then:
“Whhhhh-”
Then Verity got done in by her own trick. The Bones canceled out of the arrow. Rushed forward. Hit Ryan’s legs with a shiv. Verity was stuck mid-animation and couldn’t do anything to stop it.
“Ugh! fucking-”
Couldn’t do anything to stop the combo that would come out afterwards. The set of attacks which would almost assuredly evaporate the HP lead Verity had gained this round. The idea that after that pretty solid win against the Stephanie her opponent would prove themselves the actual better player. Send Verity right back to where she started this.
Prove that she wasn’t all that good at this game after all.
It played out so perfectly in her head. The fact that she’d used the glitched counter super earlier meant that Mean_Green_Satan_Machine23 might not have known about the regular ‘fuck you over if you try and spam projectiles’ move, because while their Bones was good (seriously, what the fuck, Verity had stomped on their Stephanie so hard with her off-main and now that she was on her main Verity was the one getting stomped?) they had a pretty clear blind spot in what bullshit Ryan could pull off. Seriously. They’d basically fallen for every trick except ‘try and throw projectile then have it get thrown right back at them.’ When that animation started, Verity thought she was going to get a bingo. That she might have actually turned this match around. She did the input for the counter. Then:
“Whhhhh-”
Then Verity got done in by her own trick. The Bones canceled out of the arrow. Rushed forward. Hit Ryan’s legs with a shiv. Verity was stuck mid-animation and couldn’t do anything to stop it.
“Ugh! fucking-”
Couldn’t do anything to stop the combo that would come out afterwards. The set of attacks which would almost assuredly evaporate the HP lead Verity had gained this round. The idea that after that pretty solid win against the Stephanie her opponent would prove themselves the actual better player. Send Verity right back to where she started this.
Prove that she wasn’t all that good at this game after all.
A second slash followed the first, cutting at Ryan’s legs, then a quick stab, a punch, a kick, another punch and so on. The combo came out smoothly, Akeno learning from last time not to try her longer strings when it had been a few weeks since she had last practised them; the combo she did instead was shorter, less damaging, but one she knew she wouldn’t drop at the wrong moment. It ended with an OTG, Ryan falling to the floor and Bones stomping on his leg.
If she’d had just a little bit more meter she could have ended things then and there, but she was unfortunately just shy of the amount she needed. Instead she backed away as always, ever wary of the rising attack.
She started moving again as she waited for Ryan to get back up, the constant steps backwards and forwards making her intentions hard to read. Managing to get one over on the trickster character was a good feeling, one that buoyed her spirits a little, but the round wasn’t over yet and there was always a way to turn things around or have things turned around on you. She could still throw this away if she made a mistake.
Once Temari was back up she rushed forward again, lashing out with a couple of quick jabs with her shivs before transitioning into a high kick that she was fairly certain the real Bones wouldn’t have been able to perform herself. Poke at her opponent, test their guard and look for openings without offering anything in return. All the while she kept one eye on the meters for both characters.
If she’d had just a little bit more meter she could have ended things then and there, but she was unfortunately just shy of the amount she needed. Instead she backed away as always, ever wary of the rising attack.
She started moving again as she waited for Ryan to get back up, the constant steps backwards and forwards making her intentions hard to read. Managing to get one over on the trickster character was a good feeling, one that buoyed her spirits a little, but the round wasn’t over yet and there was always a way to turn things around or have things turned around on you. She could still throw this away if she made a mistake.
Once Temari was back up she rushed forward again, lashing out with a couple of quick jabs with her shivs before transitioning into a high kick that she was fairly certain the real Bones wouldn’t have been able to perform herself. Poke at her opponent, test their guard and look for openings without offering anything in return. All the while she kept one eye on the meters for both characters.
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Wham Yubeesling
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There we go.
In more ways than one. Verity was both out of the combo and about to maybe do some damage back. The ohhhhhh no im gonna lose why am i so bad at this head stuff was just an over-reaction. Maybe she didn’t quite have as much control over this than she did the past round, maybe she’d just evaporated the lead that she’d gotten by using the super, but it wasn’t over. The fat lady hadn’t sung. There was still a chance and so long as there was a chance Verity could still win. Just had to stay calm. Just had to see what her opponent was doing and then see what she could do in response. Simple.
So she did that. Watched. Blocked. Watched the pokes, watched the jabs, and when one of them didn’t quite reach Ryan then that was time. He struck back. Ducked low, kicked, and in the midst of the hurt animation jumped closer and prepared for a combo of his own.
In more ways than one. Verity was both out of the combo and about to maybe do some damage back. The ohhhhhh no im gonna lose why am i so bad at this head stuff was just an over-reaction. Maybe she didn’t quite have as much control over this than she did the past round, maybe she’d just evaporated the lead that she’d gotten by using the super, but it wasn’t over. The fat lady hadn’t sung. There was still a chance and so long as there was a chance Verity could still win. Just had to stay calm. Just had to see what her opponent was doing and then see what she could do in response. Simple.
So she did that. Watched. Blocked. Watched the pokes, watched the jabs, and when one of them didn’t quite reach Ryan then that was time. He struck back. Ducked low, kicked, and in the midst of the hurt animation jumped closer and prepared for a combo of his own.
This was fine.
She’d made a mistake, took her eyes off of Ryan for a moment too long when looking at the meters and whiffed an attack, and now Temari was punishing her for it. But it was fine. A punch, a kick, a headbutt, at one point Bones hit the ground so hard she bounced, allowing Ryan to continue attacking; even so, Ryan’s combos were only worth so much compared to her own and she still had enough health left that she wasn’t too concerned about losing because of this. In fact, the damage she was taking topped up the last of her meter, so if anything she was in a better position now than she had been.
The combo ended and Bones rolled away from her opponent and back to her feet, but this time Akeno wasted no time in launching straight back into her next assault. Two quick jabs tested Ryan’s defence and set the pace for what was about to happen, a punch to the gut followed but was also blocked and was shadowed by a back fist to the temple that never landed. Instead, Akeno cancelled the last attack into a low hit, Bones hooking a shiv behind Ryan’s knee and pulling his legs out from under him.
He landed hard on his back with Bones standing over him and between the full meter and the arrows still in her quiver, there was only one way this could end. Akeno entered the input for her character’s Killshot, sitting back as she watched the cinematic start to play out.
She didn’t get to see it often, but it was a nice way to finish off the match with a bang. It was a familiar sight as she saw Bones pull out her bow and nock an arrow before delivering her signature line. “Here’s that arrow back. Thanks.”
She’d made a mistake, took her eyes off of Ryan for a moment too long when looking at the meters and whiffed an attack, and now Temari was punishing her for it. But it was fine. A punch, a kick, a headbutt, at one point Bones hit the ground so hard she bounced, allowing Ryan to continue attacking; even so, Ryan’s combos were only worth so much compared to her own and she still had enough health left that she wasn’t too concerned about losing because of this. In fact, the damage she was taking topped up the last of her meter, so if anything she was in a better position now than she had been.
The combo ended and Bones rolled away from her opponent and back to her feet, but this time Akeno wasted no time in launching straight back into her next assault. Two quick jabs tested Ryan’s defence and set the pace for what was about to happen, a punch to the gut followed but was also blocked and was shadowed by a back fist to the temple that never landed. Instead, Akeno cancelled the last attack into a low hit, Bones hooking a shiv behind Ryan’s knee and pulling his legs out from under him.
He landed hard on his back with Bones standing over him and between the full meter and the arrows still in her quiver, there was only one way this could end. Akeno entered the input for her character’s Killshot, sitting back as she watched the cinematic start to play out.
She didn’t get to see it often, but it was a nice way to finish off the match with a bang. It was a familiar sight as she saw Bones pull out her bow and nock an arrow before delivering her signature line. “Here’s that arrow back. Thanks.”
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Wham Yubeesling
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Or Verity could just get
“Nonono-”
absolutely fucked
“nonono-”
again
“Fuck-”
There was nothing she could do. Ryan dropped, Bones raised the arrow, and everything slowed as the killshot began.
“Fucking-”
Verity could only hope the animation for this was quick.
“Nonono-”
absolutely fucked
“nonono-”
again
“Fuck-”
There was nothing she could do. Ryan dropped, Bones raised the arrow, and everything slowed as the killshot began.
“Fucking-”
Verity could only hope the animation for this was quick.
The animation wasn’t long; Bones released the string of her bow after the voiceline, firing an arrow into her opponent’s chest and ending them. That was pretty much it; no flare, no flash, no drawn out cutscene like some of the other characters, probably to balance the fact it was seen much more frequently than others. Akeno was pretty sure it had been more drawn out in previous versions.
It was still long enough to give her time to take her hands off the controller for the first time in what felt like ages. She dropped it in her lap and reached her hands above her head, stretching her arms and arching her back in her seat. Those last two matches hadn’t taken that long, they hadn’t gone to time at least, but it certain felt like they had. Not to mention the fact that she had been at this for over an hour now and she still had homework that was due at some point this week. Now was probably a good time to call it quits, take her win and run with it.
But where was the fun in that?
The option to select rematch was dangling in front of her and she couldn’t just leave this and one win apiece. She wanted an honest best of three, so she could know once and for all who was better between her and Temari. Her win wouldn’t count otherwise. This wasn’t over yet.
“Akeno! Come down and help me with dinner.”
Or maybe it was.
“Dammit.” Her mother’s voice echoed up from somewhere down below, probably calling from the kitchen or maybe she had walked to the bottom of the stairs. It seemed she hadn’t quite given up on the idea of teaching Akeno how to cook yet, intent on dragging her in front of the stove and forcing the knowledge into her head.
She placed her controller on the desk next to her and reluctantly rose from her chair. Walking to the door she poked her head out into the hall and called back an answer, remembering to switch to Japanese at the last moment. ”Okay.”
If Temari was looking for a rematch, an honest best of three like she wanted, then unfortunately they wouldn’t find it here. Akeno picked the controller back up and selected the option to quit out of the game before turning the console and TV off.
“Maybe next time.”
AKENO KUDO – CONTINUE IN Coulomb's Law
It was still long enough to give her time to take her hands off the controller for the first time in what felt like ages. She dropped it in her lap and reached her hands above her head, stretching her arms and arching her back in her seat. Those last two matches hadn’t taken that long, they hadn’t gone to time at least, but it certain felt like they had. Not to mention the fact that she had been at this for over an hour now and she still had homework that was due at some point this week. Now was probably a good time to call it quits, take her win and run with it.
But where was the fun in that?
The option to select rematch was dangling in front of her and she couldn’t just leave this and one win apiece. She wanted an honest best of three, so she could know once and for all who was better between her and Temari. Her win wouldn’t count otherwise. This wasn’t over yet.
“Akeno! Come down and help me with dinner.”
Or maybe it was.
“Dammit.” Her mother’s voice echoed up from somewhere down below, probably calling from the kitchen or maybe she had walked to the bottom of the stairs. It seemed she hadn’t quite given up on the idea of teaching Akeno how to cook yet, intent on dragging her in front of the stove and forcing the knowledge into her head.
She placed her controller on the desk next to her and reluctantly rose from her chair. Walking to the door she poked her head out into the hall and called back an answer, remembering to switch to Japanese at the last moment. ”Okay.”
If Temari was looking for a rematch, an honest best of three like she wanted, then unfortunately they wouldn’t find it here. Akeno picked the controller back up and selected the option to quit out of the game before turning the console and TV off.
“Maybe next time.”
AKENO KUDO – CONTINUE IN Coulomb's Law
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Wham Yubeesling
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It was quick enough, Verity supposed. There was a voiceline. There was a cinematic of Ryan getting the arrow hurled through his chest, and then it was over. Bones did her victory animation, and then it went to the stats screen. It was over. Verity had lost. A prompt had appeared asking if she wanted to rematch, but…
Eh. Point had been made already. Stronger player — at least, in Verity’s case — was always whoever won the last match. Maybe that wasn’t the most ironclad way to determine shit like that, but the alternative was keeping track of how many times you faced against a particular person and in a world where nobody ever wanted to go for the threepeat and you never really were capable of remembering the individual players you went up against after a day you kind of had to go with more simplistic methods. Every match was a championship match. First match Verity had completely clowned on this person with her non-main and she became the champion. She decided to go for the rematch ‘cause she figured she might as well beat this person down to maybe get a couple more placements up the rankings, and then the two went main to main, and… Verity lost. Raging_Demon23 was now the champion. She’d gone up and then right back down. She’d ended this exactly where she started.
In lower mid-rank hell.
Never to leave. The people above her were too strong for her to beat. The people below were too weak to lose to. She’d win exactly as many matches as she lost. She was going to be here. Forever.
“Ughhhhhhhhh…”
She leaned back onto her bed. Looked up to the ceiling and then realized she needed to check the time and then checked the time and then looked up at the ceiling again. Past 5 PM. Time for walkies. No real time to actually rest on this. No time to even check out what happened on her websites in the time she spent playing vidya games. She closed the laptop — kept it there on the bed. Went to the closet. Took her shirt off. Put the exercise shirt on. Looked at her pants and questioned whether she should switch her pants but decided not to switch her pants. Went to her bedside table, got her iPod, went to the backdoor, told her mom she was going for her walk, and then went for her walk. Left the game and the house behind.
At least if she wanted to this would be a good time to reflect. Walks were great for thinking about things. And that last set of matches?
Well.
They left something to think about.
((Verity Stewart, continued elsewhere, if you’re brave and totally want to blitzpost something in the very short amount of time before we actually close sandbox))
Eh. Point had been made already. Stronger player — at least, in Verity’s case — was always whoever won the last match. Maybe that wasn’t the most ironclad way to determine shit like that, but the alternative was keeping track of how many times you faced against a particular person and in a world where nobody ever wanted to go for the threepeat and you never really were capable of remembering the individual players you went up against after a day you kind of had to go with more simplistic methods. Every match was a championship match. First match Verity had completely clowned on this person with her non-main and she became the champion. She decided to go for the rematch ‘cause she figured she might as well beat this person down to maybe get a couple more placements up the rankings, and then the two went main to main, and… Verity lost. Raging_Demon23 was now the champion. She’d gone up and then right back down. She’d ended this exactly where she started.
In lower mid-rank hell.
Never to leave. The people above her were too strong for her to beat. The people below were too weak to lose to. She’d win exactly as many matches as she lost. She was going to be here. Forever.
“Ughhhhhhhhh…”
She leaned back onto her bed. Looked up to the ceiling and then realized she needed to check the time and then checked the time and then looked up at the ceiling again. Past 5 PM. Time for walkies. No real time to actually rest on this. No time to even check out what happened on her websites in the time she spent playing vidya games. She closed the laptop — kept it there on the bed. Went to the closet. Took her shirt off. Put the exercise shirt on. Looked at her pants and questioned whether she should switch her pants but decided not to switch her pants. Went to her bedside table, got her iPod, went to the backdoor, told her mom she was going for her walk, and then went for her walk. Left the game and the house behind.
At least if she wanted to this would be a good time to reflect. Walks were great for thinking about things. And that last set of matches?
Well.
They left something to think about.
((Verity Stewart, continued elsewhere, if you’re brave and totally want to blitzpost something in the very short amount of time before we actually close sandbox))