Game on
"FRAK!!"
How many times was this going to happen? No matter who many hours I trained, or upgraded my weapons, this was the result. Our life force levels stood neck and neck, but in the end they always, always won. KIA. I was KIA every time I entered a zone where they stood.
Sometimes I just have to SMH. If you had told me a few years ago I would be so obsessed with a video game, I would have bet you twenty bucks it would never happen. But then I met Daveon. He wasn't like anybody I had ever knew, he was like STAT score, scholarship smart; but still down to earth and fun. Plus those dread locks... he rocked it better than anyone I could think of in real life, maybe only Busta Rhymes or Richard Sherman could compare.
Before I met Daveon I was your typical fly girl. I listened to Kayne, I went to the mall and got my hair done and my nails did. If you asked any of my girls to describe me they would say something along the lines of "She rocks the TLC Left Eye look."; complete with asymmetrical hair and steps cut in. But the similarities end there. I would never let a dude hit me, nor would I ever consider setting fire to anything, let alone a person's home. I ain't THAT crazy. However, the "Sexy, Cool" part does come into play. My birth name isn't Kat, but my grand-dad was a jazz musician and would always respond to my stories and flights of fancy with the reply: "Well little lady, you are one cool cat." It stuck. Soon most of friends flinched when they heard my real name called out in class, which was pretty much only on the first day of school. "Samantha" just really isn't me. EVERYONE called me by my nickname, and I liked it that way.
Daveon was a total computer nerd. I guess geek is what he prefers to be called. But if it's anything considered remotely techie it's his forte. He was always saying things like "God, I remember when G4 was still revelant. Before Olivia Munn." I had no idea what that meant. He constantly tried to get me to play video games with him. He started young, playing games like Metal Gear Solid on the original Playstation, as well as early online games on his PC, namely Doom and Duke Nukem. I liked Tetris and the apps on my phone. I wasn't really into the PS4 and more complex games. But he kept asking me, and I slowly caved, starting with fighting games like Brass Knuckles 3 (which I knew a little about and liked), but that slowly morphed into other types of games. And that's how I somehow got tricked into playing Mythos Death Toll.
But before I get into THAT, let's just talk about my current frustration. Apocalypse. The Devil's Altar. This level entails trying to sneak into the middle of a huge mausoleum with massive pillars surrounding it, and you gotta try to get in there with out getting taken out. The level is particularly hard as is, but you add the fact that I don't have the Viking's Crossbow equipped, and forget it. I take one peek out from behind a pillar and get my head incinerated instantly. I say to hell with this. I enter into multiplayer mode and there's that name again: Ms. Deusa. She's a gnarly incarnation of the famous snake headed lady, with every weapon you can imagine. Thought it would seem on the surface that we were fairly matched by our playing time and stats; she somehow gets me EVERYTIME. Of course, Daveon thinks this is hilarious. Every time I talk about it he smirks. He keeps telling me that one day I'll get her.
So why and how did I end up playing a game I never wanted to play? Well, I was pretty damn good at Brass Knuckles. Daveon and I are both competitive, so after getting his ass handed to him too many times, I would feel sorry for him and play Mythos. And as much as I had resisted it, I ended up picking it up pretty quickly and getting good at it. Thing is...Daveon seemed really interested in watching me improve. He wasn't too forward, but he gave me some good hints, and told me the best ways to build my character. I chose blond elf looking princess chick and named her Persphone. The character could mind zap enemies when the right power ups were reached and she had good agility, especially when swapping weapons. So I had spend hours upon hours in character mode bulking up my experiences points, exchanging "roobies" for items such as food and weapons, and spirit animals to be accessed in the tougher boss scenarios. Grinding away for hours and hours. I know, I know. It sounds soo lame. But it's so much fun.
I have the night off, so I fire up the XBOX 360. It purrs like a kitten, but doesn't destroy my furniture and doesn't require food. Better than a pet anyday. My mind wanders as the game loads. Things are getting serious with Daveon. We are talking about moving in together. I like this idea, my parents are great, but I'm grown now and need to be out on my own. Plus, Daveon is good for me. Since we got together, my grades improved, and I even got award a scholarship to go to college, all because he inspired me to look into it. He just has that vibe around him, he makes everything and everyone around him better. I log into XBOX live, and find a random room to try and test my new skills out in the Mythos arena. So guess who just happens to be in the room? Ms. Deusa.
Damn.
I've been practicing. I've got this. I stab away at my other enemies, only stopping to dodge attacks. Dodging, counter attacking and stabbing enough times and my other foe, a large spiked troll crumbles finally and is torn in half. I try not to revel in this victory as I know a greater emphasis placed on the timing of blocks and dodges in order to avoid Ms. Deusa's complex attacks. She sees me, finally and makes her way over.
She makes the first attack, I block but still get a huge chunk taken out of my life force. This isn't going to work I have to remember not to not focus on blocks in the battle. Blocking is futile. Hiding so I can access my healing spells and load up my power attacks, that's gonna be the way to finally triumph. I'm in a space spot where the attacks aren't reaching me, so I pause and scroll through the level looking for my best plan of action. I the opposite corner I notice a backpack I had hidden when in this level early in full grind mode. This is why those hours of time are worth it. I have access to resources I'm going to need in those final moments when it matters most. Time to unpause, makes some massive attacks, and then run like hell.
I have "Battle Royale" queued, this is the mother of all attacks I've been working on, powering up for. I run over to Ms. Deusa and hack and slash and make a sizable dent in her life force. She then counters and takes another huge toll on mine. I run as fast I can to the corner and grab my backpack. I find the items I need to finalized the Battle Royale, the attack I've planned especially for this moment. I also cast several healing spells, bringing me back up to 3/4 health. I enter into the center ring, and go for it.
We exchange blow for blow. Regular attacks cut small increments out of each of us. I get a few larger attacks released, billowing lava pools and fire balls at Ms. Deusa and see another large chunk fall from her power bar. It's time. I access the Battle Royale. Fire balls, sonic blasts, and mystical laser beams slowly knock out a few more bars, before the coup de grâce. Kerberos, the hellhound appears and rips each snake out of Ms. Deusa's head before chomping the head cleanly off and swallowing it down.
I have won. After all this time, I finally got the jump on my nemesis. I call Daveon right away. "Baby, I did it!!" I exclaim. He seems happy, but not as much as I would have hoped. "Oh, really? Nice. Why don't you come on over here, Kittlekins? I have a surprise for you."
Fine, I'll come over. I wonder why the cold shoulder though. I thought he would be as excited as I was to finally have beat that bitch. I mean he was the one who got me into that stupid game in the first place. He's been too busy with work to play lately to play, so maybe he's just jealous. I don't know. I'm trying not to let it bother me, but I remain focused on it as I drive over to his place. He calls just as I pull in the drive way, and tells me to just come on in and meet him in the living room.
I walk in and see his PS4 screen still paused on the flat screen. On the screen is my victory, and Ms. Desua still headless in a massive pool of blood. As I process everything he walks in behind me and kisses me on the cheek. "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer; eh babes?" I decide right then and there, maybe it's time to let him have an epic win of his own and I fall into his arms.
How many times was this going to happen? No matter who many hours I trained, or upgraded my weapons, this was the result. Our life force levels stood neck and neck, but in the end they always, always won. KIA. I was KIA every time I entered a zone where they stood.
Sometimes I just have to SMH. If you had told me a few years ago I would be so obsessed with a video game, I would have bet you twenty bucks it would never happen. But then I met Daveon. He wasn't like anybody I had ever knew, he was like STAT score, scholarship smart; but still down to earth and fun. Plus those dread locks... he rocked it better than anyone I could think of in real life, maybe only Busta Rhymes or Richard Sherman could compare.
Before I met Daveon I was your typical fly girl. I listened to Kayne, I went to the mall and got my hair done and my nails did. If you asked any of my girls to describe me they would say something along the lines of "She rocks the TLC Left Eye look."; complete with asymmetrical hair and steps cut in. But the similarities end there. I would never let a dude hit me, nor would I ever consider setting fire to anything, let alone a person's home. I ain't THAT crazy. However, the "Sexy, Cool" part does come into play. My birth name isn't Kat, but my grand-dad was a jazz musician and would always respond to my stories and flights of fancy with the reply: "Well little lady, you are one cool cat." It stuck. Soon most of friends flinched when they heard my real name called out in class, which was pretty much only on the first day of school. "Samantha" just really isn't me. EVERYONE called me by my nickname, and I liked it that way.
Daveon was a total computer nerd. I guess geek is what he prefers to be called. But if it's anything considered remotely techie it's his forte. He was always saying things like "God, I remember when G4 was still revelant. Before Olivia Munn." I had no idea what that meant. He constantly tried to get me to play video games with him. He started young, playing games like Metal Gear Solid on the original Playstation, as well as early online games on his PC, namely Doom and Duke Nukem. I liked Tetris and the apps on my phone. I wasn't really into the PS4 and more complex games. But he kept asking me, and I slowly caved, starting with fighting games like Brass Knuckles 3 (which I knew a little about and liked), but that slowly morphed into other types of games. And that's how I somehow got tricked into playing Mythos Death Toll.
But before I get into THAT, let's just talk about my current frustration. Apocalypse. The Devil's Altar. This level entails trying to sneak into the middle of a huge mausoleum with massive pillars surrounding it, and you gotta try to get in there with out getting taken out. The level is particularly hard as is, but you add the fact that I don't have the Viking's Crossbow equipped, and forget it. I take one peek out from behind a pillar and get my head incinerated instantly. I say to hell with this. I enter into multiplayer mode and there's that name again: Ms. Deusa. She's a gnarly incarnation of the famous snake headed lady, with every weapon you can imagine. Thought it would seem on the surface that we were fairly matched by our playing time and stats; she somehow gets me EVERYTIME. Of course, Daveon thinks this is hilarious. Every time I talk about it he smirks. He keeps telling me that one day I'll get her.
So why and how did I end up playing a game I never wanted to play? Well, I was pretty damn good at Brass Knuckles. Daveon and I are both competitive, so after getting his ass handed to him too many times, I would feel sorry for him and play Mythos. And as much as I had resisted it, I ended up picking it up pretty quickly and getting good at it. Thing is...Daveon seemed really interested in watching me improve. He wasn't too forward, but he gave me some good hints, and told me the best ways to build my character. I chose blond elf looking princess chick and named her Persphone. The character could mind zap enemies when the right power ups were reached and she had good agility, especially when swapping weapons. So I had spend hours upon hours in character mode bulking up my experiences points, exchanging "roobies" for items such as food and weapons, and spirit animals to be accessed in the tougher boss scenarios. Grinding away for hours and hours. I know, I know. It sounds soo lame. But it's so much fun.
I have the night off, so I fire up the XBOX 360. It purrs like a kitten, but doesn't destroy my furniture and doesn't require food. Better than a pet anyday. My mind wanders as the game loads. Things are getting serious with Daveon. We are talking about moving in together. I like this idea, my parents are great, but I'm grown now and need to be out on my own. Plus, Daveon is good for me. Since we got together, my grades improved, and I even got award a scholarship to go to college, all because he inspired me to look into it. He just has that vibe around him, he makes everything and everyone around him better. I log into XBOX live, and find a random room to try and test my new skills out in the Mythos arena. So guess who just happens to be in the room? Ms. Deusa.
Damn.
I've been practicing. I've got this. I stab away at my other enemies, only stopping to dodge attacks. Dodging, counter attacking and stabbing enough times and my other foe, a large spiked troll crumbles finally and is torn in half. I try not to revel in this victory as I know a greater emphasis placed on the timing of blocks and dodges in order to avoid Ms. Deusa's complex attacks. She sees me, finally and makes her way over.
She makes the first attack, I block but still get a huge chunk taken out of my life force. This isn't going to work I have to remember not to not focus on blocks in the battle. Blocking is futile. Hiding so I can access my healing spells and load up my power attacks, that's gonna be the way to finally triumph. I'm in a space spot where the attacks aren't reaching me, so I pause and scroll through the level looking for my best plan of action. I the opposite corner I notice a backpack I had hidden when in this level early in full grind mode. This is why those hours of time are worth it. I have access to resources I'm going to need in those final moments when it matters most. Time to unpause, makes some massive attacks, and then run like hell.
I have "Battle Royale" queued, this is the mother of all attacks I've been working on, powering up for. I run over to Ms. Deusa and hack and slash and make a sizable dent in her life force. She then counters and takes another huge toll on mine. I run as fast I can to the corner and grab my backpack. I find the items I need to finalized the Battle Royale, the attack I've planned especially for this moment. I also cast several healing spells, bringing me back up to 3/4 health. I enter into the center ring, and go for it.
We exchange blow for blow. Regular attacks cut small increments out of each of us. I get a few larger attacks released, billowing lava pools and fire balls at Ms. Deusa and see another large chunk fall from her power bar. It's time. I access the Battle Royale. Fire balls, sonic blasts, and mystical laser beams slowly knock out a few more bars, before the coup de grâce. Kerberos, the hellhound appears and rips each snake out of Ms. Deusa's head before chomping the head cleanly off and swallowing it down.
I have won. After all this time, I finally got the jump on my nemesis. I call Daveon right away. "Baby, I did it!!" I exclaim. He seems happy, but not as much as I would have hoped. "Oh, really? Nice. Why don't you come on over here, Kittlekins? I have a surprise for you."
Fine, I'll come over. I wonder why the cold shoulder though. I thought he would be as excited as I was to finally have beat that bitch. I mean he was the one who got me into that stupid game in the first place. He's been too busy with work to play lately to play, so maybe he's just jealous. I don't know. I'm trying not to let it bother me, but I remain focused on it as I drive over to his place. He calls just as I pull in the drive way, and tells me to just come on in and meet him in the living room.
I walk in and see his PS4 screen still paused on the flat screen. On the screen is my victory, and Ms. Desua still headless in a massive pool of blood. As I process everything he walks in behind me and kisses me on the cheek. "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer; eh babes?" I decide right then and there, maybe it's time to let him have an epic win of his own and I fall into his arms.