I've been waiting all night for this.

I nodded. Those were the standard rules. I pressed the okay button and the match began. I started the match by keeping my distance and throwing turnips at him. Fox was faster than my character and better at close quarters, but I had good projectile game. Back in college, people would call me ‘cheap’. They would get frustrated when they couldn’t get close to me and they’d make mistakes and blunders.

I’d never seen a Fox player move so quickly. He closed the distance between us in an instant and I didn’t have time to react at all. He got me into a long combo and knocked me off the stage. I floated back to the stage and just barely grabbed the edge, but he back hopped onto the ledge and I missed it completely. Edge guarding. He was good. I immediately realized that I had underestimated him. I’d have to bring my A game.

I was down a stock, but I had gotten his percentage up with my projectiles. I rushed him immediately and got him into a combo of my own. I managed to get a decent combo off and eventually knocked him out of the arena. Stock was even: two to two.

“You’re good, but you’re still going to lose,” I taunted.

When he came back, he did the same thing I’d done to him. He rushed me in his invincibility frames and got me locked into a combo. I just couldn’t believe how fast his Fox was. It was like he was at a different level. I couldn’t get away from him. By the time I reacted, I was already trapped in his combos. He didn’t give me a chance to play from a distance at all. He knocked me out, and this time, I hadn’t managed to get a single hit on him. I was beginning to realize that this guy was not just good... he was really good. This game was going to be challenging. He had two stocks left and hadn’t even taken any damage. I was in trouble. I came back to the stage and rushed him again. I got some decent damage in, but he got away from me. Then at just right moment, I pulled a lucky stitch-face turnip and knocked him straight out of the arena. One stock to one. I still had a chance.