『You have been killed!』
『FIRST BLOOD!』
The red words flashed on Luke's screen. It was a lame ending to what otherwise could've been an epic story.
But hey, it's alright. Luke smiled wryly. I almost got them. Yes, me, a memer, almost smacked that invincible trio. Isn't that kinda amazing? I mean, these dudes are supposed to be the strongest gang out there, but they almost lost to my DK, haha! Haha. Ha.
It felt like shit; no amount of laughing could change that fact. But it wasn't all bad. There was also the glass half full, the one the brain always liked ignoring for some reason.
Luke had already proven his mettle once against the Leopards, and he came dangerously close to doing that again against the Triangle. So, it was alright. Even if he suffers countless defeats and setbacks along the way, he will keep pushing forth with his supreme memes! One day, even meta slaves like Yuel will have to accept how awesome Luke's memes were!
But, for now, only a handful of people recognized Luke's dedication to the craft. And, his current opponents were among these people.
"Phew! That was way too close." Jaiden wiped his forehead. "He almost got me there."
"Good reaction to that blast," Rio praised. "I have to say, you're always good at getting out of sticky situations."
"Thanks, but I wish I was better at not getting into these 'sticky situations' in the first place, haha..." Luke laughed dryly. "But damn, that DK was wild. Hard to disregard it as a meme when it can kill you with one hit."
"Heck yeah!" Nash nodded. "Dude almost ran us over with that 'meme'!"
"Yeah, it was super dangerous," Jaiden agreed. "The scariest part is that my death could've caused a domino effect. He would've recovered HP and continued attacking, so it's good we stopped him right there. That's one hell of a scary 'meme' alright."
"I agree he gave us trouble," Rio commented. "But, now that we've killed him, he's become irrelevant for the rest of the game. That's why, in the end, it's just a meme."
"Oh c'mon." Nash rolled his eyes. "Would it kill ya to give the guy some honest praise?"
"Yes, it will."
"Haha, okay, Mr. Grumpy." Nash laughed. "Anyway, we've got to finish off the SB, too. He's already getting away!"
While they were bantering, Vincent made a break for it! They couldn't let him escape! At least, that's what Nash believed. But…
"Well, this is your specialty," Jaiden said. "I have to recall and go to the lane."
"Same." Rio nodded. "I need to start pushing while I have the chance. So, good luck."
"Wha-!?" Nash's pals dumped all the work on him and scrammed! Traitors!
"Okay, fine, fine." Nash sighed. "I mean, you're right. This IS my specialty!" He licked his lips and took off after the hapless prey!
Up to this point, the whole situation was pretty much an action movie. Everybody threw hands all over the place without being scared of anything.
But things were different now. Vincent was running for his life in terror. It was a horror movie, with Nash playing the monster!
"Fouuuuuund you!" Nash closed the gap in a jiffy thanks to the Samurai Tabi he bought at the start of the game. Boots weren't recommended starter items for the 3v3 mode, but Nash knew they'd come in handy for early chases like this!
"C'mon, let's have some fun!" Nash slashed Vincent's back with his razor-sharp claws. Then, he slashed some more, and more! He was gonna tear his prey to shreds!
Naturally, the target was starting to get nervous about the whole thing.
Dios mio! Vincent exclaimed. This monster will rend me asunder at this rate!
His Pyro Trail had already expired so he no longer had the Movement Speed buff. In retrospect, it was premature to use this handy escape tool for combat instead of saving it for retreating.
Now, the best I can do is… roll forth! Vincent leapt ahead and rolled across the ground. But, as if waiting for this exact motion, StormMonster rolled right after him!
As expected from the Storm Chaser! Vincent narrated for an imaginary audience. He shall not let his target slip away with a simple roll! There is simply no escaping this horror movie monster!
But, fortunately, even the great Storm Chaser had to operate within the confines of the game's physics. As such, he could not produce DPS out of thin air. With Grievous Assault on cooldown, he could only claw away at Vincent with basics.
Fortunately, the map is much smaller in this mode. Vincent thought. My tower is already right around the corner!
In the end, Vincent safely escaped. The almighty Storm Chaser couldn't finish him off in time.
With that said, Vincnet lost a hefty 50% of his HP. Even though StormMonster only used basic attacks, he brutalized Vincent thoroughly.
As expected from the one I dubbed the Storm Chaser! Vincent nodded repeatedly. He can deliver this much damage during a chase with nothing but the simplest of tools!
Losing 50% HP put Vincent in a difficult spot. Just a little more and he'd have no choice but to recall back to base. To make things worse, by the time he finally returned to the lane, Laplace had already finished farming the minions.
So, I lost both HP and lane advantage because of our little adventure. Vincent hung his head. And, it's all my fault. I'm the one who approved this shady business…
In Chessmaster's absence, it fell on Vincent to be the team's shot-caller. With his robust game knowledge, he should've been qualified enough for the job. Alas, he messed up terribly right at the start of the game.
One bad decision, and now the entire game is in jeopardy. Vincent frowned. The burden of a shot-caller is way too much for moi! I cannot imagine how Chessmaster deals with this stress on a daily basis!
But there was no point crying over spilled milk, so Vincent focused on the situation at hand. That's all he could do right now.
He successfully fended off the incoming enemy attack, but he also missed out on a lot of precious exp by staying under the tower. On top of that, despite his best efforts, his tower sustained some damage.
Truly, that one decision to invade the enemy's territory was so terrible it might cost Stratus the entire game. The only saving grace of the situation was that Gunz had the chance to push Bot uncontested during this short period of time…