Smash Expert

When it shifted to Mia's turn, Jack looked over with wide and curious eyes.

"Is there some sort of secret to this game? I want to know! I want to know!"

Mia let out a small chuckle.

"Let me try first though. I need to focus if I don't want to end up just being a bunch of hot air."

She first used a 7 of hearts, which transformed into a sword. Then, she used a 4 along with a 2 for defense. She looked at her last card and frowned before drawing a pair of 2's from her playing deck and inserting them into the tray to be used as a defense.

It formed a rather chaotic armor piece that was partially plate and chainmail, but it worked fine enough.

After a brief instruction from the tutorial, the game started. Mia dashed forth immediately, but surprisingly enough the Queen hadn't moved despite doing so the previous two times.

Once Mia clearly showed her intentions of advancing, the Queen went backward. Mia's eyes widened considerably at this point and she went even as far as to hold her breath.

The moment she entered the range of attack, she backed off. As for the Queen, it had swung just after she backed off. The animation wasn't fast enough to tag her, and Mia got off scot-free.

While the Queen was stuck in the attacking animation, Mia did a dash attack forward, hitting the Queen once. For the first time, the queen was knocked back and the HP bar that was at 19 for so long finally dropped down to 12.

Jack let out an amazed gasp.

"Wow! You really are good at this!"

Mia sucked in a cold breath.

"If I was already familiar with the hitboxes, then I would be way better!"

She backed up as the Queen stood up. And this time, they were at a standstill. The Queen occasionally went forwards and backward, as did Mia. They were both just waiting for a chance to counterattack since that seemed to be the most effective method.

However, the Queen didn't maintain this standstill for long.

She instead fully charged forward, quickly getting into range. However, even after she did get into range, she didn't attack immediately. Mia hesitated for a second. And in that second, the Queen jumped but did a downward attack this time.

Mia attempted to crouch to dodge it but was struck in the end, causing the messily put-together armor to all fall off as she was knocked back. She furrowed her brows while spamming the attack button.

They were too close for any dodging anymore.

The Queen also did an attack, and they both hit each other at the same time. Both were knocked back, though Mia's character fell down to the ground while coughing up blood. The 'Game Over' text appeared, however, the Queen's HP dropped to 5 from 12.

Mia smiled a little awkwardly while twisting a strand of her hair.

"Haha, I guess I'm not that good. I'm not like... that much of a nerd."

Jack smiled rather brightly as it shifted to his turn.

"You were able to get two hits before you died! I can't imagine even getting one hit on that person..."

Jessica let out a small laugh.

"Maybe we should let Mia do it, while we use our last cards to defend ourselves. That way the game won't end and Mia can use her last card as a weapon to maybe get a comeback."

Jack nodded several times, thinking it was a good idea.

"Yeah! I want to see her play again! I still totally don't get it."

Mia let out an embarrassed laugh.

"W-Well, I'm not too sure if I can do it without any defense at all. The AI for this thing plays really well, just like an actual person."

Jessica smiled bitterly.

"You still have a far better chance than us."

Mia pursed her lips before raising a finger.

"Well, if you are going to do that, then at least try to dodge for as long as you can. It would help a lot to see more attacks if possible."

Jack raised one finger up into the sky.

"Ok!"

He put in nothing for his attack but used a 6 of diamonds for defense. When he loaded in, Jack immediately began walking backward, while the Queen went forward. When the Queen got pretty close, Jack randomly decided to crouch.

However, the Queen did the same and performed a low attack, hitting Jack and killing him right then and there.

He let out a gasp.

"Ah! I couldn't even last one hit!"

Mia shook her head.

"No, that's fine. You showed a different move, so it was useful anyway. Jessica, maybe you should try jumping?"

Jessica gave a small nod as she locked in her own 6 of spades for the sake of defense.

"Alright!"

When the game started, Jessica walked forward a little before jumping. In response, the queen dashed forward and used the same overhead strike, knocking her out of the air and making the game over screen appear.

Jessica let out a small gasp.

"Ah. I didn't even get to show a new move."

Mia took a deep breath.

"It's fine, it's fine. I got a little bit more information, and that's all I need. Though... to make my chances higher, I should probably use some more cards from my playing deck."

Jack let out a soft hum.

"I think you can do it without any defense!"

Jessica chuckled with a finger on her chin.

"Me too! You got the first hit last time, right?"

Mia blinked a few times, while she held a few playing cards in her hands.

"W-Well, it would be better like this, right? I might not even win if I do use them."

Jack crossed his arms and nodded several times.

"It would be cooler if you won right here though!"

Jessica let out a laugh with a hand over her mouth.

"That would make the stakes much higher! Since we would lose right away if you lost first."

Mia looked between the two with a slightly exasperated expression. For a moment, she even forgot about the consequences of losing because of how casual they were being. It almost felt like she was a kid playing with her friends at an arcade. She quickly shook her head right as that image appeared.

"But the punishment will be a 5 from all of us! Using a few cheaper cards wouldn't be much of a big deal..."

Jack tilted his head to the side.

"But that's no fun! If you go without defense, then it would be a fair fight! Whoever gets the first hit in will be the winner!"

Jessica let out a laugh.

"He has a point!"

Mia's eyelid twitched. She felt like she probably shouldn't listen to them. Yet, with how casually they were talking, it made her feel like the situation wasn't nearly as serious as she was making it out to be. Even though realistically, she had the most normal thought process.

She thought for a long while but lost her resistance when she felt both of their gazes on her.

"Ah, alright."

Mia tucked away the cards and locked in her attack with a 6 of hearts and her defense with nothing. Once it started, neither party ended up moving. It was a game with only five total buttons to press, with four dedicated to movement and one for attacking.

But despite how simple it was, Mia still knew this was one of the hardest games she ever played. She was rather stunned that the AI itself wasn't programmed in a cheaty, but still incredibly skilled way.

She took a deep breath, still staring at the screen with widened eyes. While she did blink, she did it infrequently and as quickly as possible, not wanting to do away with even a fraction of a second.

In the end, Mia felt her eyes tiring as she decided to move first.

She dashed, going on ahead first. The Queen responded almost immediately by going forward as well. From here, the winner or loser would be determined within the next second.

Mia acted first, not by attacking, but instead by crouching. The Queen responded by jumping but held off as she wasn't in range yet. It was then that Mia suddenly stood up and lunged forward, doing an overhead dash attack.

The Queen also responded with a downward attack, but it was too little too late.

Mia hit the Queen first, and she was knocked back, falling down while coughing up blood. An overly simple 'Victory' appeared on the screen, but it was a welcome one.

Mia let out a loud sigh and fell back into her chair. Both Jessica and Jack let out gasps of amazement. Jack raised both hands in the air.

"You really did it! Can you teach me how to be like you?"

Mia scratched her cheek with embarrassment.

"W-Well, I guess it's not impossible."

Jessica clapped her hands happily.

"Thankfully you were here. My reaction time definitely isn't enough for these kinds of games."

Mia smiled rather brightly. And while she was thinking of that, someone put a hand on her shoulder and turned around with a laugh.

"Ah, Jessica, what are you-"

But when she turned around fully, she wasn't met by Jessica.

"AAHHH!"

"Sorry, sorry! I didn't mean to startle you. I was just... a little bit too passionate."