The Egg Chat (Fake Chat Zone Boss)

Same colour scheme here. Commentary is red. (Which you should’ve noticed already if you’ve read either of the first two commentaries, or even this one.)

The gripping conclusion to the Conventional Trilogy…

TSC Fake Chat Act Three (or, Boss Stage)

This is an idea I’d had in my head for a while. I couldn’t work out whether to call it Act Three or Boss Stage, but figured Boss Stage didn’t work well without Act Three, so I put it secondary to Act Three. That could also be viewed in the play sense, as in acts and scenes, which adds to the effect. :)

The “Egg Chat” was SBW’s idea, though. Ingeniously named boss, I must say.

Prologue: The TSC Convention has proved to be the most anticipated event of the century… well, at least for our 24 chosen ones. Rivalries have been forged, trash has been talked, and all the talk is about just what Rolken’s plans are. He recently threw a spanner in the works by saying that his marriage to flyby was on hold, leaving the Convention to start on its originally planned date of July 7.

These chat logs document the days in the lead up to the Convention…

* Now talking in #soniccenter

* Topic is “The Conventional Center – http://www.soniccenter.org/ - Where great trilogies come in threes. | CONVENTION IN TWO DAYS!!

Another addition from RPG. He comes up with some really good ideas… but very sporadically, I must admit.

* Set by Rolken on Thu Jul 5 12:00:00

* ChanServ sets mode: +o mike89

<CherryMay> hello mike!

<mike89> hey cherry!

<Rolken> well if you can use it to your advantage then I can’t see why it wouldn’t be allowed

<mike89> :o?

<Rolken> also hi mike :o

<SuperSonic101> just discussing the latest tactics in SA2B

<SuperSonic101> I think this might finally be what I need to get my total under 140 minutes :D

I originally had this at 150 minutes, but he’s about to get that now, never mind in 18 months’ time.

<SuperSonic101> and maybe getting all those bastard S ranks too :o

<RPG> I HAVE ALL S RANKS

<SuperSonic101> dammit we KNOW

<RPG> I can prove it too :o

<SuperSonic101> we know that too :o

* Bonzi77 has joined #soniccenter

This was a pretty arbitrary selection. I was looking for someone who didn’t know much about us, but wasn’t entirely n00by. I can’t remember this guy, so he fits the mould perfectly, as far as I’m concerned.

<RPG> eh, I feel like bragging a little, I’m in a bad mood D:

<Bonzi77> what’s going on here?

<SuperSonic101> we’re talking about S ranks in SA2B

<Bonzi77> S ranks?

<Bonzi77> aren’t those only in Sonic Rush (and SA2B with chao I suppose?)

<RPG> No, they’re in SA2B main mode as well.

<Bonzi77> No they’re not, I’m certain of it

<RPG> I’ll even get you proof pics, then will you be happy?

<RPG> HERE, LOOK!

<RPG> I HAVE TEH PROOF PICZORS

<RPG> www.soniccenter.org/ARRPEEGEE/UberBomberEmeraldMan4D <- THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR ALL S RANKS IN SA2B

Said “proof pics” are indeed stored in this very folder. Check them out if you like. :)

<RPG> I TOLD YOU THEY EXISTED!!

* RPG was kicked by Sprint (YOU ALSO HAVE LOWERCASE LETTERS FOR A REASON)

A take on how his girlfriend was kicked out in the second chat.

<Bonzi77> eh, I’m no longer needed here

* Bonzi77 was kicked by mike89 (damn straight)

* RPG has joined #soniccenter

<RPG> aw, he’s not here any more

<Rolken> CAN I HAVE EVERYONE’S ATTENTION PLEASE

<Rolken> now, the Convention list has gone through a few revisions in the last few months, what with players pulling out and being banned and all that

Eh, I had to come up with some excuse for all the changes. Comparing this to the fake chat #1 list, about half of it has changed. For the better? Only time will tell.

<Rolken> but the final list is as follows:

<Rolken> CherryMay, CosmicFalcon, F-Man, gamersince93, Greham Adelphis, magnum12, Marth, mike89, NintenDan, oldskoolgamer101, PsyBorg, PsyKnux, PsyMar, Rayku, RPGnutter, SadisticMystic, Shadow Jacky, shadowgamer196, smizzla, sonicam, Spinballwizard, SprintGod, SuperSonic101, yoshifan

<Rolken> and me and flyby of course X)

<mike89> well I guess now is the best time to reveal it

<mike89> *leaves you all in suspense*

<Rolken> :o?

<RPG> :O

<Sprint> …

<CherryMay> :o

<mike89> smizzla = zac-a-maniac

<mike89> do with him as you will

Okay, okay. Hold up.

Now far be it from me to put commentary into the main part of the chat, but I really had no choice here.

The above statement is true. Mark did indeed sign up again fairly recently, because he wanted another chance to prove himself. (Most of his ambition was simply to beat me, but I have him covered in most levels. It should be noted that he discovered the latest methods for Chaos 2 and Marble Garden 2, though.)

I know judgment is not up to me, though I was initially against the idea. Ultimately, I give you, the TSC community (or probably Rolken if it works out that way), a final vote on whether to accept or reject him.

I’ve spoken my part – the rest is in your hands.

<mike89> but I sure as hell don’t want him coming to the convention

<Rolken> I’d have to pull the plug on him, and if all his times are legit I’m not gonna do that

<mike89> Rolken, there are ways I can stop him coming without having anyone else know

<Rolken> not now there isn’t =P

<mike89> …shit.

<AndrewJ> wait, cherry’s coming?

<AndrewJ> I thought this was a convention for time attackers?

And the lead-in to the long running feud between Cherry and Andy (a feud which continues after he leaves here).

<Rolken> I have two answers to that

<Rolken> firstly I was running really low on actual players to invite (the amount of players who had to be banned in March was staggering)

<Rolken> and secondly cherry is awesome :D

<AndrewJ> …

* AndrewJ was kicked by CherryMay (you know it’s true)

* AndrewJ has joined #soniccenter

<AndrewJ> meh, I’m above all this petty bullshit

<CherryMay> no you’re not

<AndrewJ> well, I’m still here, aren’t I?

* AndrewJ was kicked by CherryMay (no, you’re not)

* AndrewJ has joined #soniccenter

<AndrewJ> well, no point in my staying around here any longer

<AndrewJ> see you all at the convention ^_^

This line is supposed to recur right throughout the chat. I think I forgot about it somewhere along the line.

* AndrewJ has quit IRC (Quit: )

<CosmicFalcon> aw, I was just about to kick him too

Well, CF doesn’t really like him either.

<CherryMay> …damn, just missed him

<CosmicFalcon> XD

<CherryMay> XD

* JXQ has joined #soniccenter

* Quietust has joined #soniccenter

Quietust has been around here before, but we’ve not seen JXQ yet. He, in fact, inquires for a reason similar to what Quietust did – there was a time done in real time that he couldn’t beat.

<_> Now the authors of the Sonic 1, 2 and 3 TAS’s are in the same room!

<JXQ> Not any more

<Rolken> :O

<JXQ> I got beaten a couple of days ago

<JXQ> so naturally, I’m trying to beat it back

<JXQ> Sprint, you seem to have the best times at TSC, and in fact you even beat my Labyrinth 3 time by a considerable amount

<Sprint> Labyrinth 3 is a prime candidate for the screen wrapping glitch you see in my S3&K run

This is a flat out lie. I’ve tried screen wrapping on Sonic 1, it just doesn’t work.

Though if anyone were to find an alternate method, I’d bet the farm on Sprint.

<Sprint> :D

<Sprint> it works a lot quicker on Sonic 1, but it’s also far more difficult to execute

My way of covering up the fact that it actually doesn’t work. :)

<JXQ> I see…

<CosmicFalcon> dead people?

Obligatory Sixth Sense reference.

<Quietust> I’m also working on a Sonic 2 with Knuckles run

<Quietust> I’ve seen the videos for Hill Top 1 and Chemical Plant 2, and I’m confident that this run will be considerably faster than the Sonic run

<mike89> good luck with that

<mike89> you too, JXQ, I quite enjoyed the first one

* mike89 goes to watch the improved version

<Quietust> thanks

<JXQ> I don’t suggest you do that…

<mike89> why?

<JXQ> it’s basically my run with only a few very minor improvements

<JXQ> actually, I think the level times are exactly the same

<mike89> then what makes you think you can beat yours and make it impressive to watch?

<JXQ> because I’m convinced that the majority of the run is actually mine, but small improvements have been copy/pasted in

<mike89> who submitted it?

<JXQ> a user by the name of Neutral Chaos Chao

<_> that’s remarkably close to Mark Blackwell’s SN…

<RPG> hang on, I know where he’s from

<RPG> Chao Universe

I’m not explaining this yet. You can wait a few lines.

<mike89> oh bloody hell, not them again…

<JXQ> why, what did they do?

<mike89> meh, I don’t feel like going into it again

<mike89> I’ll save it for the commentary

<JXQ> commentary?

<mike89> oh… nevermind. >_>

Okay, now I’ll explain. It really needed the joke that throws dramatic irony out the window to go with it.

Chao Universe were no different to any other Sonic community – except that they had somehow got hold of a few TSC users’ email addresses and sent them spam mail. Naturally, none of said users knew about it - until it was brought to our attention by Daefos.

A few of us then went on a raid of these boards. Plenty of fun was had, and as of now the boards are practically dead. So we basically achieved our goal in the end. :)

We still don’t know who was imping our accounts, but meh. That can wait.

Anyhow, the moral of the story is, don’t mess with TSC. We’ll spam you and dig up dirt on your admins until you break.

* JXQ gets to work on Sonic 1 TAS v2

* JXQ has quit IRC (Quit: )

* Quietust is going to enjoy making this TAS

<Quietust> Sprint, perhaps you could do one with Tails or Knuckles on Sonic 3?

<Sprint> maybe…

* Quietust has quit IRC (Quit: huzzah)

<Sprint> …in a few years.

<Sprint> :)

Another stab at Sprint’s laziness. I like doing this, despite being pretty damn lazy myself.

<RPG> Well, the question remains

<RPG> What the hell has Chao Universe got to do with Sonic 1, and NESvideos for that matter?

<Rolken> I definitely wouldn’t put such a thing past HCC

<mike89> nope, this guy’s definitely from CU

<mike89> I’m fairly sure he’s the one that had me and RPG banned (well, the first time at least XD)

<_> I see no links.

<_> The only ones from here who has submitted to NESvideos are Cherry and Sprint, and neither of them were part of the attacks

<mike89> So it’s just a coincidence?

<_> sure, why not

* Marcus has joined #soniccenter

<mike89> and you reckon that’s a coincidence, too?

Timing abuse to the max here.

Marcus is Chao Universe’s admin. It turns out he’d done the same thing as he did to us with a few other sites… all the more reason to get back at him, I say.

<RPG> Well, speak of the fucking devil.

<Marcus> Speaking of fucking… YOU FUCKING PERVERTS!

<Marcus> YOU MAKE ME SICK!

<RPG> YOUR MOM MAKES ME SICK!

<F-Man> wow, that was really lame X)

And trust Effy to spoil our fun.

He gets this line because he was the whistleblower on the entire mission.

<mike89> then why the hell are you here?

<Marcus> because I’m getting my own back against you

<Marcus> now that I’ve finally found where the attacks of January 2006 came from

<Marcus> I traced ‘JesusofSuburbia’s IP down to a member in here

<Marcus> Show yourself!

<Rolken> it would be so easy to ban you from the site right now.

<Rolken> why on earth would you tell us?

<Rolken> also why would said user do that?

<RPG> Because he can?

* RPG is now know as JesusofSuburbia

As RPG would say: ZOMG A REVEALING.

This is the point where RPG basically started writing – I lost a bit of interest but I never let on to anyone but him.

<Marcus> Holy shit

* JesusofSuburbia is now known as SaintJimmy

<Marcus> …

<SaintJimmy> And the list goes on :) you gullible fuck

<Marcus> God dammit! It was you all along! The guy that liked fucking his dog.

This one gets explained in a moment.

* SaintJimmy is now known as RPG

<RPG> The one and only :D

<Rolken> also you didn’t answer my question.

<Marcus> sorry

<Marcus> because we know you weren’t involved, and that you wouldn’t condone these actions as admin of a respectable community

<Rolken> wrong on both counts

<Rolken> I know exactly what happened, and given the circumstances I see no problem

Another complete lie. When Rolken found out he was the loudest speaker against our actions. (Un)Fortunately, he was too late to stop us. :D

I had to take a few liberties with characters to get this thing to work, as you can see.

<Marcus> you’re even worse than the rest of them!

<Rolken> b&

<Marcus> YOU’RE ALL PERVERTS! I HAVE WITNESSES!

<RPG> I’m not a pervert

<mike89> That is SO topic’d.

You can tell RPG wrote this line. I never ever use capital letters. =P

I thought I’d keep it this way for this very reason.

* RPG hides his wang

<Rolken> like who?

<RPG> mike: D:

<Marcus> like…

* Taco has joined #soniccenter

ZOMG IT WAS TACO ALL ALONG

Wait, no it wasn’t.

<Rolken> :O?

<Taco> :O

<Marcus> no, not him

* JerryTheFox has joined #soniccenter

<Marcus> much better.

<Marcus> okay, which one of these sleazeheads was it that abused you on MSN?

<JerryTheFox> it was ARRPEEGEE or something like that

<RPG> Damn straight.

Exit mike89, enter RPG.

I wouldn’t have the stomach to write this next bit.

<JerryTheFox> he was saying things like “you dirty shitfucker” and “I had sex with my dog earlier, it was fucking great, he's gonna fuck you next week :)” and stuff like that

<mike89> pfft, you haven’t heard the full RPG repertoire…

<mike89> it’s a lucky day when we don’t hear plenty worse than that

<JerryTheFox> rpg is telling me in a pm that hes sexually touching up his cat and that it is enjoying it

<RPG> mike, you’re not helping, you know X)

<mike89> sure I am

<mike89> o_0

<JerryTheFox> PLEASE STOP!!1

*kicks RPG out of the writer’s chair*

<Rolken> well I’ve heard enough

<Rolken> the two of you can get banned from this IRC channel and the entire site

<RPG> Laters you dirty shitfuckers.

<Marcus> THIS ISN’T OVER!!

* Rolken sets mode: +b Marcus!*@*.*

* Marcus was kicked by Rolken (shut up, we don’t like you)

* Rolken sets mode: +b Jerry*!*@*.*

* JerryTheFox was kicked by Rolken (I have no idea who you are, but I’m fairly sure we don’t like you either)

<mike89> okay, that solved nothing at all.

<RPG> who cares? We hate them, they hate us. It’s like with SCD, KCG, and XBQ.

SCD = Sonic Cage Dome. If you’re reading this, you probably know who they are, and you probably hate them too.

KCG = Kore’s Chao Garden, sworn enemies of Chao Universe. We intended to get involved with them, but didn’t for this very reason.

XBQ = something I made up, but it would very likely relate to Xboxes, and we know how much love there is for those at TSC…

<mike89> XBQ? Must’ve missed that one…

<RPG> yep.

<RPG> SBW, CF and I had a lot of fun with that one :(

* mike89 changes the topic to “The Conventional Center – http://www.soniccenter.org/ - Screw normality. | CONVENTION IN TWO DAYS!! | <RPG> I’m not a pervert

<Spinballwizard> Indeed

<mike89> :D

<RPG> Fork you mike :(

<mike89> why are you complaining?

<RPG> So

<RPG> Like

<RPG> I have something I want to say

<mike89> :o?

<CosmicFalcon> :o?

<Spinballwizard> ?o:

<RPG> KING

<RPG> FOR

<RPG> A

* RPG was kicked by CherryMay (SHUT UP.)

The next line is “DAY,” for those who didn’t know.

On an unrelated note, those who have played Vectorman 2 would know that the final boss is called “Queen for a Day.” Coincidence? I think not.

You would also know that the ending sequence left plenty to be desired. =P

<CherryMay> …

<CherryMay> Why has he not auto-rejoined? XD

<mike89> he just signed out of MSN so I think its quite safe to assume his Internet asploded.

<CherryMay> D:

<CosmicFalcon> OMG! J00 KEELED RPG! YOU BASTARD!

* CosmicFalcon was kicked by CherryMay (You can shut up too.)

* CosmicFalcon has joined #soniccenter

* ChanServ sets mode: +o CosmicFalcon

<CosmicFalcon> D:

<Rayku> What’s better, Skitty on Wailord?

<Rayku> or*

Never mind the fact that this typo is halfway across the damn keyboard. :)

<CosmicFalcon> HOT SKITTY ON WAILORD ACTION

* CosmicFalcon shot

<Sprint> …

* mike89 reloads.

<Spinballwizard> Skitty sucks :(

* PsyMar has joined #soniccenter

<PsyMar> Hey

* Psyknux has joined #soniccenter

<mike89> :o

* PsyBorg has joined #soniccenter

This is an idea I’d had in my head since Fake Chat mkII. These three members joined TSC at roughly the same time, and as if that wasn’t a coincidence, why not have them all enter the chat at the same time?

But of course, with our humour, three is never enough.

Not to mention, the next page or so is RPG again.

* CherryMay blinks.

* Psyduck has joined #soniccenter

<Psyduck> Y HALO THAR

<mike89> wtf

<Psyduck> er

<Psyduck> I mean

<Psyduck> Psy………duck?

<supersonic101> =D

* supersonic101 is now known as Psyfuck

* Psyfuck fucks Psyduck

<Psyduck> Duck. O.O

* Psyduck evolves into…

* Psyduck is now known as Golduck

<Golduck> WROAR. Ph43r m3!

<mike89> …dont you mean ‘ph34r’?

<Golduck> No. Ph43r.

<Golduck> Its 9 times more awe inspiring than this measly ‘ph34r’!

I only just noticed that the “ninja” emoticon on Invision boards is actually :ph43r:. Yes, it’s 43, not 34. I got it wrong.

* Psyfuck is now known as SuperSonic101

<Rayku> wow, I never knew Psyduck evolved so fast when you did that

* Rayku tries this new evolution method

Believe it or not, that’s my line. I never knew I could get something to fit in so perfectly.

* Golduck has quit IRC (Ping timeout)

<CosmicFalcon> looks like it dies pretty quickly afterwards though

<mike89> o_O

<mike89> moving on…

This can be seen in two ways. Firstly, I could be moving the conversation on, until I am rudely interrupted below.

Or I could be moving the fake chat along (scrapping dramatic irony), and that next line was part of the plot. In this case, it is indeed the latter.

* gbagcn has joined #soniccenter

<gbagcn> is anyone here

<Rolken> no

<gbagcn> but you’re here

<Rolken> no I’m not

<gbagcn> yes you are

* gbagcn was kicked by Rolken (no you’re not)

This guy is just too easy.

* gbagcn has joined #soniccenter

<gbagcn> mod abuse

We’re OPS, moron.

<Rolken> where?

<gbagcn> here

<Rolken> lies :(

* theenglishman has joined #soniccenter

<theenglishman> is anyone here?

I’m getting the strangest sense of déjà vu…

<theenglishman> guess not

<theenglishman> wow, it echoes… echoes…

<theenglishman> IS ANYBODY HERE… here… here?

* theenglishman was kicked by Sprint (here’s your echo… echo… echo…)

* gbagcn was kicked by Sprint (oh, and nobody’s here. really.)

Whilst not incredibly humourous lines, I just like these two. Swift and to the point.

* RPG has joined #soniccenter

<mike89> what’s the word on the final Convention attendee?

<Rolken> hm?

<mike89> well my brother isn’t coming, nuff said.

<Rolken> eh, okay, I’ll think up someone who can get here on pretty short notice

<Rolken> MK could come

I’m sure he had someone better in mind than MK… but it fits into the race part perfectly.

<MK> :O

<MK> sure, I’ll come

<mike89> :D

<Rayku> aww, it didn’t work

<RPG> what didn’t?

<Rayku> SS’s alternate evolution technique

One must wonder exactly what he did in the interim. I personally don’t want to know, despite having wrote the line.

<mike89> somehow I thought it wouldn’t work… >_>

<Spinballwizard> Well, it’s getting rather late

<Spinballwizard> better go, and prepare for the Convention

<mike89> seeya there

<RPG> same :o

* Spinballwizard has quit IRC (Quit: Convention in not long now! :O)

<Rolken> wow, it’s not long at all

<Rolken> only 36 hours!

<mike89> 36 HOURS?!?

<_> more like 35 hours, 57 minutes and 22 seconds

Typical SM moment. Fake Chat 1 has another one – see my explanation for that.

<mike89> I’m gonna need most of that for travel time

<mike89> guess I’ll be off then

<mike89> see you all at the convention!

<RPG> laters bro~

* mike89 has quit IRC (Quit: I’d better not miss my flight…)

This line once had a purpose. I was going to put in everyone flying to the Convention as well… but I figured it’d be too boring.

Now time to do something different.

Ever since I started on Fake Chat #1, I wanted to write about what might happen at the Convention. Of course, it makes no sense to have it in chat log style. (I contemplated doing this anyway, but rejected it shortly after.) So this will be in a more conventional (get it? ahahaha… okay I’ll shut up now) format.

So, at long last, here it is… the TSC Convention!

Okay, right off the bat, there are many things wrong with this part.

Firstly, there is no way anything would happen in the way I envisioned it. But I had plenty of fun imagining it up, and that’s all that counts.

Secondly, I strayed from the tried and true IRC log format to write this. How good am I at regular writing? That’s your job to decide. I personally think I’m not very good, but this is one of my better efforts.

And finally… eh, just read on.

The twenty-four chosen ones had all arrived by now, at their chosen meeting point. Across the road was a car hire centre. Rusty got everyone’s attention, and called Jay on his cell phone. He turned on the loudspeaker and Jay revealed the first of the many challenges they would undertake at the Convention.

“You are to split into six groups of four, get a hire car from across the road, and make your way to the Convention as fast as possible. There is one rule – if you break any road rules you are disqualified. GO!”

This is brilliant. We’re going to “time attack” our way to a time attack Convention. The irony is delicious!

The rule against breaking road rules was more a precaution than anything else – in real life that restriction wouldn’t be there, as it’s not like Sonic had a speed limit. :)

In accordance with the overwhelming opinion that there were far too many Dans and Mikes at TSC, it was discovered that there were exactly four of each in the group. As such, two groups were formed instantly. They rushed off and gained a headstart while the other groups organised themselves.

Twas rather lucky I picked MK in the end. The fourth Dan!

And a note to anyone whose real name I don’t use: If you want it used in here, tell me – but if your name is Mike or Dan, don’t bother, because it completely destroys the format and I won’t tolerate that.

The third group to form was later known as the Psy* group. It contained the users known as PsyBorg, Psyknux and PsyMar, as well as Jason (Rayku) who had also gone under the name of Psyroclasm.

The fourth group was the Shadow group. Chris (SJ) and Kev, who both had Shadow in their online aliases, along with Stephen (yoshifan) and “magnum12”, who were the top two Shadow the Hedgehog players of the day.

I do believe these two groups were rather ingenious.

The fifth group is a shambles because I needed the last group to be what it is, and it wouldn’t make sense if they were before anyone else.

At this point choices were getting slim, and the next group had no real association at all. Just Francis, Greham, Mark (Marth) and Rusty made a dash across the road. By this time, the Mikes and Dans had already made their way out, and it was looking somewhat like a two horse race already.

Which left the most unlikely of groups. In the red corner were Andy and Cameron, and in the blue corner, “Cherry” and Gavin. All four could tell this was going to be a long trip, and that they were now in with no chance of winning. Plenty of fighting over who would drive ensued, but eventually Gavin was given the keys.

The other four teams got their cars, and the race began…

Cue my awful race commentary. :)

Without directions from Jay as to which roads to take, it became a scramble for the map and the best path. The Mike that had taken the wheel was CosmicFalcon, while mike89 took his place in the passenger seat with the map. The other two (SS101 and gamersince93) were given the role of watching the goings-on behind them, ensuring that no one was able to follow their lead.

The Dans had it a lot easier – they were not far behind the Mikes and therefore just took whatever path they did.

The other four teams were well behind the pace, but quite evenly matched. In fact, at one particular set of traffic lights they were all positioned within 20 metres. All four teams were so keen to get a lead on the other three when the light went green that the Shadow team actually crashed into the back of the Psy team’s car while trying to overtake. They dropped back to last place, but were able to continue.

Kev thought they were still in with a chance, asking “Is that instant disqualification?”

Chris replied “It better not be,” and they tried to work their way back into the race.

As they came within a few miles of their destination, the Mikes spotted something.

“Hey, look, they’ve made a right turn!” cried SS101 and gamersince93 in unison. Indeed, the Dans had strayed off what appeared to be the beaten track. Both quickly implored mike89 to check the map.

“Bad news, guys,” was his comment after a period of thought. “If they know what they’re doing, that path is a touch quicker, and probably doesn’t have the same traffic. This is going to be close…”

The Dans’ strategising had almost paid off here. They drove through a few back streets, going as close to the speed limit without going over, then tried to turn back into the main street – but the Mikes just passed them on the way back onto the road. However, they went unnoticed by the Mikes’ scouts.

And at just that moment, they made a right turn, and there it was… there was the site of the Convention. The Dans put on the gas behind them, and moved to overtake – but what caught their eye was the car that was about to pull in from the other direction. It looked suspiciously like the Dans’ car…

“Oh no you don’t!” screamed CosmicFalcon, and he made an unbelievably accurate turn at full speed into the house. The other three Mikes were hanging on for dear life – but at least they’d won. The two very similar looking cars followed them in much slower.

Hooray for inexperienced drivers crashing into houses. Of course CF is the most experienced of the four of us as far as I’m aware, but things may change between now and then. They’d probably better, too. >_>

Everyone got out of their respective cars, looking quite the worse for wear after the incident. In fact, the car they had tried to beat in belonged to the hosts, Jay and Jennie.

After the formal introductions and the like, Jay motioned towards the stairs: “If you go up to the second level you can see the road where the other competitors will be arriving.”

All eight attendees rushed up the stairs and tried to stake out the best vantage point.

As it were, it didn’t take long for the others to arrive. Next to arrive was Gavin’s group, not a bad showing given they started from the back of the pack and their trip was marred by in-fighting. The hosts went to greet them, and showed them where the rest of the attendees were.

And then came the most incredible sequence of events. The situation the Mikes had thought they were in had actually developed, with the Psys and Shadows (with the battle scars to boot) arriving in opposite directions at the same time. Both attempted to make a quick turn into the driveway, but both failed and they only succeeded in crashing into each other. At this point the final team arrived, and assuming they were first, just parked outside the house and ran in, before they joined everyone else back outside to inspect the damage, amid murmurs of “we did all that for nothing?”.

No serious damage was done to the passengers, just a few headaches here and there, but the cars were both written off. The two teams began to wonder how to best explain this to the car hire crew when they left…

When the dust had settled on the situation, Jay showed everyone around the place, stopping in the kitchen where he asked the four winners to raise their hands.

The four Mikes raised their hands in unison.

And Jay presented them with their prize for first place – a plate of brownies. They were devoured before you could say “make sure you enjoy them.”

This is a bet Rolken made with us not long ago. After he met sonicam and goalie, the conversation went as follows (pretty much):

<Rolken> I am pro TSC people coming to my house.

<Rolken> as is flyby.

<Rolken> whoever gets there first gets a prize.

<Sprint> like a new car? (actually I forget what it was but it was something ridiculous)

<Rolken> I was thinking brownies

<Sprint> pff

<Sprint> they better be bloody good brownies

If nobody else had gone to Rolken’s house in the last 18 months, that’s what everyone was racing for. Brownies.

Was all the crashing really worth it?

This fake chat writer says, yes. :)

Eventually they were all led into the main gaming area. And the Convention had begun!

Somewhere in this room was every single gaming system that Sonic had ever appeared on. There were not only Sonic games as far as the eye could see, but many of the best multiplayer games ever, all here for this one-off event.

The Convention had two main Sonic-based objectives, however. Firstly, it would stage a tournament, over various Sonic games, whittling the 26 players in attendance down to one TSC Champion.

This, and the following, were both ideas of mine. After NintenDan proposed the Convention my first thought was towards getting a Sonic Adventure 2 run up to Speed Demos Archive. The top players combined could do it – I’m just there for the races and some bosses.

My second thought was this tournament. More on that later.

The second was to compose the best Sonic Adventure 2 run they could possibly muster. With all the best SA2 players in the one place (with the exception of Cybrax) all the skills of the top players would be on show. This incredible attempt was slated for the second day of the four-day Convention. Anyone who was taking part was then to use the first day to get used to the Dreamcast controller, for those who were GameCube players. It had earlier been worked out that the Dreamcast version had enough advantages to consider it faster.

Don’t think this has been tested extensively yet, but we think it’s true.

And on that first day, and night, everyone mingled, challenged each other to their favourite multiplayer classics, and in general had the time of their lives. At the stroke of midnight, Jay announced the format for the tournament and the first challenge:

“At a time of my choosing, I will call on all remaining players to take on the next challenge. Each challenge will be on a different Sonic game, and it will hopefully span all platforms. About one quarter of the current group gets eliminated in each challenge: for this first one six will be knocked out.

A quick note on the format:

I stole the basic idea from Deal or No Deal. I won’t go into an explanation of the game here, just click the link. (This is why there are 26 people at the Convention in the first place.)

I then chose games from different platforms so nobody would miss out. Of course, this gears the competition towards me and SM. :)

For the most part this section commentates itself – but I’ll throw some stuff in here and there.

The first challenge is thus: set up Sonic Adventure 2 on either Dreamcast or GameCube, there’s a few TVs around so we won’t take so long. Your challenge is to get the lowest score on Metal Harbor, neglecting time bonus. Any death means an instant disqualification. Any questions?”

Only one, from Francis: “What happens if there’s a tie?”

“In the event of a tie, time will be taken into account. Record both on this sheet of paper,” Jay motioned to a pad of paper he was holding up, “and importantly, get someone to verify it for you, either me or someone watching you. Any more?”

There was silence.

“All right, let the tournament begin!”

Now, it is common knowledge that a score of 0 is in fact possible on Metal Harbor, but it requires a few nifty spindash jumps. Most players opted for a safer strategy, though it became apparent that many did not know of Rusty’s low score video or just chose not to apply its uses, especially when it came to the rocket.

The end of the first round came, and Jay collected the list and read the names of the unlucky ones to be eliminated.

“Eliminated are the following players: Cherry, flyby, Marth, Psymar, Spinballwizard, and oldskoolgamer. That is all.”

This came as a shock to many of the players. Andy had proven to be one of the better SA2B players over the years, but he had in fact lost a life during his attempt. Jay quickly addressed them once more:

“Now those of you participating in the SA2B record attempt should probably get some sleep, seeing as how you probably want to be in the best mental condition possible. The rest of you can keep gaming, but try and keep it quiet.” And with that, he and the SA2B players left to sleep.

The seven players assigned to the task (Rayku, SuperSonic101, RPGnutter, mike89, SadisticMystic, shadowgamer196 and F-Man) woke up refreshed and ready to go at a record that would probably never be beaten. But before that, Jay announced the second challenge.

These selections are arguable (I think Psyknux in particular will take me to task over this) but I feel they’d be the most likely seven to take the game apart, with cybrax excluded. It’s no coincidence that six of those seven are founding members, either.

“Sonic Advance 2, Sky Canyon 1. See how many rings you can pick up and hold within a minute. GO!”

Many groans were heard close to the end of any given player’s minute as they invariably took a hit at about 45 seconds and raced to pick up the few they may have missed. The four Dans seemed to leave the event the most confident.

The results came in.

“The following five players are eliminated: gamersince93, PsyBorg, Psyknux, Greham and Rayku.”

This was not necessarily bad for Jason as if SA2B players were called out for the third challenge, he could continue for as long as needed. Jay promised to line the third event up with one of his favoured levels, such as Radical Highway.

Then everyone gathered around the Dreamcast to watch the attempt at history by the seven players. Francis would start things off on City Escape, then Kev would take it for the first boss, Big Foot, then it would be over to Rusty for Wild Canyon, and the controller would be passed among the seven through to 180 emblem completion. Then the other Mike would do a quick play of Green Hill to sign off on the run.

The run was progressing very smoothly until Dry Lagoon ended – at that point Jay summoned all remaining competitors for the third challenge. It would be a time-attack style challenge, so that the SA2B players could go straight back to the task. Jason was the only player left, and proceeded to play Sand Ocean as normal, but when Jay called for all the competitors he was slightly put off, enough to land him in the quicksand. He picked up from his slight error and continued, as the others proceeded to the third challenge. Dan left with some wise words: “Time stopping doesn’t work on Dreamcast. Just play for the finish.”

The third challenge shifted the focus to the Genesis for the first time. The challenge was Sonic 1, Green Hill 3. Rusty proved the least rusty on his Sonic 1 skills and won the challenge out, while many disappointed players came in at 50 seconds or over…

I love the pun here. It’s so obvious, yet so effective.

The SA2B players were the first to play and the first to leave. Jason was just finishing Radical Highway when Rusty returned, and the rest followed soon after.

Jay read out the results: “The following four players are eliminated: F-Man, CosmicFalcon, magnum12 and MK.”

F-Man was the only slight surprise exit, but to this point the tournament had gone mostly as expected. Over half of the attendees had been eliminated, and yet the majority of the big names were still in the competition.

Back at the SA2B record attempt, the story modes had just been completed and the missions were in full swing. They started from the left side of the map and moved across. Dan was heard to mutter, “I wouldn’t want to be the one to play Route 101 or 280…”

To which Jason replied, “Did I hear someone volunteer for 101 and 280?”

Dan offered a swift “No!” but ended up doing them anyway. He only got one death on Route 101 mission 4, other than that both went smoothly.

The hunting levels would always provide their incredible randomness, but an A was never a difficult task for these seven. Only one genuinely difficult task remained after Routes 101 and 280, and that was Crazy Gadget.

Actually, I lied. This isn’t hard – just bloody tense.

Crazy Gadget is the level furthest to the right on the map, which meant it was the last level to be undertaken. Missions 2 and 3 were nothing difficult, but 4 and 5 (as they had already shown in 1) used a suicidal jump so as to cross the finish line after the dying sequence began. This technique was particularly necessary in 5, because the switch has moved and it takes a lot longer to get around using this method. The problem is, of course, if it doesn’t work points reset to 0, and quite likely restarting from the last checkpoint. This jump, so close to the end of the run, required an ice cool competitor… and the reigning champion, SuperSonic101, stepped up to the plate.

He arrived in the block room in incredible time… gravity switch… jump to red block… back onto purple… spindash jump onto the box, jump in from behind… would it work?

And just as everyone thought he’d missed out, the victory screen played. He’d done it!

This took the emblem count to 174 with a relatively easy six to come. The other Mike took on the three kart races, with Sonic’s inferior car due to the lack of upgraded cars in the Dreamcast version. He blitzed the competition to take the count to 177, which left only the boss mode.

The controller was switching hands feverishly as the bosses dropped in near-record or even record time. Hero, Dark, then Hero and Dark again… just two bosses stood in the way of a record that would likely never be broken. The Biolizard, being a long boss as it is, is not one you would want to die on towards the end of such a run. Mike stepped up when it mattered, delivering a time he would consider sub-par, of 3’19”97.

Yep, this is sub-par. If you don’t like it, go beat it. :)

And then the FinalHazard. Dan was given the honour of completing the run, whilst the remainder of the Convention watched on.

One hit… yeah, that was easy.

Two hits… whoa, nearly got taken out already!

Three hits… another easy one.

Four hits… getting tense yet?

And when he landed a picture-perfect hit 5, it was all falling into place.

Hit 6 is technically the same as hit 5, but the lump has a tendency to be in a worse position. So it proved with it being right next to a laser beam on this attempt. Dan tried to weave under it, and it followed him – eventually he was hit by an egg and then the laser and thrown back to the start. The second time he weaved successfully and landed the killer blow. The time was a meager 2’07”72, but he didn’t care, and nor did anyone else in that room. They had truly witnessed a piece of history here.

The reigning champion was given the license to sign the run off by speeding through Green Hill. He pulled off a time of 31”42, which is not bad for a first attempt. But all the pressure was off. They had done it.

The game was saved and the time checked. The conservative estimates of six hours were smashed, in fact the run came incredibly close to the five-hour barrier, coming in at 5 hours, 6 minutes and 29 seconds. Jay chose to let the players take a rest instead of forcing another challenge upon them, while he took the DVDs that the run was recorded on and began the process to get this incredible run hosted.

The number selections are arbitrary, don’t try and read anything into them. This applies for most numbers in this section (except the aforementioned 26 above).

As the players celebrated this incredible achievement, Mike was heard to comment “And those Sonic Cage Dome fools thought this time attacking business was hard? HA!”

And at that moment… everyone was silent. Everyone stood or sat still, as they heard a banging outside increasing in loudness. And the hairs on the back of the neck stood up on every Briton in the room.

Cherry pointed out “I know that smell from somewhere…”

Mike provided the solution by simply looking out the window. “Oh dear god. Frenchies.”

About twenty Frenchmen had arrived at the door. After everyone refused to answer, they proceeded to smash the door down. The leader introduced himself with a very strong French accent: “Hello. My name is Charles, but you may know me better as… Zizou.”

Jay exclaimed, “Zizou? But how did you know where I lived – oh wait, the T-shirt. But that doesn’t explain how you knew everyone would be here today!”

Charles replied, “Actually, I didn’t. I would have much preferred if they weren’t here, so I only had you and your ‘girlfriend’ to deal with.”

“Fiancee, thank you very much.”

“Whatever. Anyway, I’m asking for the T-shirt back, and if I don’t get it we’ll have to fight you.”

This topic is long and drawn out in the second fake chat. I didn’t need to do any more with it here.

“Meh. Just take it.”

This comment was met with a huge “WHAT?!?” reverberating around the entire house.

“Yeah, you heard me, you can have it. If you’re that serious about it I really don’t care. Besides, we know we were really the winners.”

And the growing sentiment of the other attendees was “yeah, he’s right” and “Screw you SCD!”

So Jay went to fetch the T-shirt, came back down and handed it to Charles. And they left without a fuss.

Gavin was surprised. “I’d have thought that, being French, they’d still want a fight.”

And one of them turned around and said to the others, “Hey, they said they wanted a fight! Let’s have at ‘em!”

Rusty picked up a stray baseball bat and came to the front of the TSC pack, just as the Frenchmen were beginning their charge. He stood in front of them and said, holding the bat in a ready-to-swing position, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

I have a bit of a left-field inspiration for this line. A couple of metres inside my house is a bucket, which holds a few umbrellas and a baseball bat. My mum likes to have the bat there because “what happens if somebody comes in and tries to rob us?”

My subsequent comments of “If we were being robbed, we wouldn’t be here most likely” and “What happens if you’re asleep?” often go unanswered.

The Frenchmen muttered, “No… I guess not…” and walked back off into the distance.

After ensuring they had indeed gone, they all went back inside and settled back down to more gaming.

A couple of hours later, the fourth challenge was announced, the last for the night.

“Sonic Drift 2 is the game, you’re to play the Milky Way level. Pick up as many rings as you can, and finish in the quickest time. Go!”

Milky Way is not a particularly hard level, but many buckled in the pressure of the tournament setting. Some used boosts which was a big mistake, as, with Sonic or Metal Sonic, they cost rings per use.

Fools.

Jay changed things up a little and announced the top eight players by name:

“The eight players who have reached the finals stage of the tournament are: Stephen Chan!”

The crowd applauded – it was safe to assume everyone would get their own little round of applause.

“Mike Erman!”

“Cameron Jones!”

“Rusty Jones!”

“Mike McKenzie!”

“Dan Siviter!”

“Gavin Ward!”

“and Dan Zurad!”

Applause followed the reading of each name.

“This means that Chris, Kev and myself were knocked out of this round. That’s all for tonight, we’ll start up again some time tomorrow, whenever I say so.”

The competitors spent the rest of the night incredibly relieved that the SA2B run had been completed, but now they would fight amongst each other for another prize…

The format of the tournament had been changed slightly. This round was more of a quarter final – the eight competitors would face off in pairs in…

And now I change from the Deal or No Deal format. That format would have required six more rounds, whereas this only requires three – and they can be more climactic this way.

“Sonic 3 Time Attack. You’ll play the Grand Prix mode, all five levels in a row, monitors on. First to win three events goes through to the semi finals. Now let me just put everyone’s name in a hat so we can do the draw…”

The first match would see Gavin against Stephen, then Mike McKenzie would play Dan Siviter, the other Mike and Dan would face off third, and Rusty would complete proceedings by playing his namesake, Cameron.

In the first match, both players chose Sonic, and it began. Gavin got off to the early lead by taking Azure Lake, then stole a thrilling Balloon Park match by spindashing up the hill and taking Stephen’s second balloon away just as he was about to hit it on the last lap. The task became too difficult, and one got the feeling he threw Chrome Gadget away.

Again, both players picked Sonic for the second match. Dan stole Azure Lake in another fifth-lap thriller, but Mike bounced back with a crushing Balloon Park win. Another close match ensued in Chrome Gadget, the players practically mirroring each other’s moves, until Dan missed one jump at the end that sealed victory for Mike. Desert Palace also went Mike’s way, sealing his spot in the semis.

A break of tradition as Dan opted for Tails. In doing this he forfeited Azure Lake, but gained massive ground on Balloon Park and Chrome Gadget. Desert Palace again fell the way of the speedier Sonic, and so it came down to Endless Mine. The rocks were the great leveler, with the players reaching that position at lap 5 at almost the same time. Both players spindashed, but Tails flew up the final shaft instead of rolling up, which proved to be the winning move as Sonic lost valuable time by flying up into the air. Dan made one last spindash to take a tense victory.

Cameron, like Dan before him, opted for Tails, and was obviously hoping for the same result. Not to be, as he threw away Balloon Park on lap four, spending a good 10 seconds in the loop area. He took Chrome Gadget, but it was small consolation as Rusty took Desert Palace for the win.

So then there were four. Jay decided to take the semi final straight away so that the rest of the day would be left for more casual gaming.

“The semi final will take place on Sonic Advance 3. As you know, in Sonic Advance 3 multiplayer, four players are split into two teams, one leader, one partner. Now I think everyone here would agree that Mike and Dan are the outstanding Sonic Advance 3 players here, so they will lead their respective teams.”

He then wrote the names of Gavin and Rusty on two pieces of paper, scrunched them up and held the hands behind his back.

“I’ll let Dan choose his partner. Pick one hand.”

Dan chose the left hand and it revealed that he would team up with Gavin. Mike was therefore teamed with Rusty.

At this point, he led the four finalists into a separate room, whilst giving everyone else in the room a number. This number was the level on which they would play (zone 1 act 1 would be 1, zone 2 act 3 would be 6, etc.)

This was just perfect. Recall that there are 26 people at the Convention, in accordance with my Deal or No Deal rule.

Now take out the four semi-finalists and Rolken, and you have 21 people left. That’s one for every act in Sonic Advance 3.

I thought that worked out just perfectly – in fact, I had already decided the semi-final would be on Sonic Advance 3 before this incredible coincidence showed itself.

Jay called the four players back. Since Dan had chosen his teammate, he allowed Mike to choose the level.

“I’ll pick my bro, Dan. What’ve you got?”

That’s RPG, obviously.

And he said, “I’m number nine.”

Mike muttered, “That’s Ocean Base 3…” and Dan suddenly looked more confident.

Jay gave the finalists the rules: “Nobody can be Sonic, as that’s just unfair to all concerned.”

At this point, character selection took place. Mike and Rusty took the Knuckles/Tails combination, while Dan and Gavin took the remaining Cream/Amy.

“The winning team shall be pronounced the two finalists, and will compete against each other for the title of TSC Grand Champion,” were Jay’s last words before starting the game off.

“GO!”

And they were off.

Ocean Base 3 is a relatively easy level, but without Sonic both leaders were confused as to where to go. Rusty and Gavin quickly found out that they had to do very little and just relied on their leaders to take them through to the final.

Mike took a slight lead, which was quickly nullified due to the Knuckles/Tails team’s lack of R-tricks. Cream and Amy capitalised and led by half a second into the first tube.

Dan went for too much as he came out of the tube, being hit by the enemy, and they were neck and neck up the slope. Both players made a couple of slick jumps in an attempt to press home any advantage they could possibly get. But as it were, they remained neck and neck until the next speed booster, whereupon Dan missed the jump and was thrown into spikes, while Mike picked up the all-important speed shoes.

Mike led by about a second into the second tube, and from there he was never going to be headed. Mike and Rusty had made the final of the TSC Championship!

The rest of day three was reserved for, comparatively, the players letting their hair down a little. Competition between players was still fierce, as is to be expected among players of such high caliber, but the intensity of the tournament was obviously not there. One more day of surprises awaited…

Those who had slept woke up on the final day to see the two finalists playing like mad on every game they could get their hands on. They were practicing anything and everything, in anticipation of what Jay might pit them against each other on in the final. In fact, a few players quizzed Mike and Rusty over this behaviour – apparently they had both been up all night practicing everything like mad. Mike claimed to have played every single level he could be asked to play – Rusty claimed he couldn’t possibly have.

I wonder if I really could do that. I’d have to try it out sometime and see what happens.

Jay called the four semi-finalists forward and announced the challenge for the final of the tournament.

“The competitors will play all four levels of Sonic 2, and the winner is whoever the game declares to be the winner. Dan and Gavin will play first for third place…“

Neither of them knew of this arrangement, so both were a little surprised.

“…followed by the championship match between Mike and Rusty. Everyone crowd around, third place is on the line!”

Gavin would play as Sonic, and Dan as Tails. Emerald Hill would start both events, and the loser of each would pick the next level.

Dan’s Emerald Hill 1 strategy was to bolt to the finish line with as much resource as possible. He crossed the line in 28 seconds with 45 rings.

Gavin had 52 rings and was headed for the finish line when he bumped into the yellow spring and took a hit below. With Total Ring locked up, he went for score and item boxes after that – however, much to his dismay, the three item boxes in a row had already been taken. Dan took act 1 out 3-2.

Act 2 was almost a carbon copy of the first. Dan with the quick finish, and Gavin taking a late hit and not getting enough resources in time. This time, it was score that cost him. Dan took out the zone 2-0.

Gavin selected the special stages and hostilities resumed. This is where he made his fightback. He had worked out the best ways to get rings efficiently on stages 5 and 6, and thrashed Dan in both stages. 2-2, 2 levels to play.

Dan selected Mystic Cave this time. Both players blitzed through the first act, but Dan with a slight lead took the item boxes at the end. The first was a life for Sonic, and the second was a Robotnik box! He quickly sprung out of the gap and just managed to claim time. The act ended up being drawn 2-2 because of that. Score was tied, Dan won Time and Total Ring, and Gavin took Ring and Item Box.

Act 2, on the other hand, was a whitewash. Dan lost all sense of direction at times in the level, and in fact fell into the Spike Pit of Hell once. Gavin took an easy win to take the lead into Casino Night. Jay reiterated a rule at that point: “No spring or lift traps.” Just in case Gavin was considering it.

Act 1 saw Dan take the win quite comfortably, leaving the players at 3 acts each. The next act had the potential to decide this match… Gavin played the slots to build up a handy ring and score lead, while Dan zoomed over to the final slot machine and tried to milk that for rings, without a great deal of luck. He knew he would need rings to stay in the match, but kept spinning up useless combinations, until finally… a Bar. ONE BAR. Dan gave up and let Gavin have the win, leaving Dan requiring a special stage victory to tie up third place.

Gavin took the first section 19-6 to put the pressure on Dan. He’d now need the last two sections… thankfully the cards fell his way in part 2 and Gavin took a hit near the end to give Dan that win. All down to part 3… and Gavin took an early lead, before being pegged back by a bomb… into the last set of rings now… 12-12! A tie! Assuming both made it through the last set of bombs, which they did safely. Gavin wins a thriller of a 3rd place playoff, 4 acts to 3. The two congratulated each other on their efforts, and made way for the final match.

At this point, the flights back home were getting perilously close to leaving, so they had to speed things up a little. Mike, who was in a particular hurry, sped through Emerald Hill with the aid of two Speed Shoe powerups, but neglecting plenty of rings. Rusty caught him on rings, total rings and score and won the act 3-2.

Emerald Hill 2 set a similarly cracking pace. Mike took the top path, again with the aid of a speed shoe, and took all the rings up there. Rusty had to catch him up on rings, but failed, falling short by just six rings to set up a Special Stage encounter.

Part 1 is a very simple part and fell Mike’s way purely because he started in the lead and managed to stay there. Part 2 is simple enough but Rusty managed to hit a bomb set after a long passage of rings, dropping him back in rings and position, and was unable to catch up. Part 3 was completely irrelevant, as Mike took the first zone out 2-1.

Rusty then picked Casino Night Zone, and got off to a quick lead. Even without spring traps he proved his worth to crush Mike in act 1, then back up his performance in act 2. 3-2 to Rusty.

Mike took Mystic Cave for the next round. His belief that Mystic Cave was an incredibly easy level was tested here as he had problems staying alive, due to the flashing beetles. After losing act 1, it occurred to him that he had to win this act to stay in the game. Mike took a path littered with rings, while Rusty took a quicker path but stopped for enemies and item boxes. It would be 2-2 without time factored in, certainly.

Both players arrived from opposite directions into the final stretch at the same time. They spindashed from the checkpoint platform simultaneously, but Mike made the crucial mistake of holding right after moving off the edge. He stopped and attempted another spindash, but it was too late, Rusty had crossed the line… for a 3-2 win and the title of TSC Grand Champion!

Everyone congratulated him on winning and a mock medal ceremony was held, with Gavin getting a bronze “medal” (which was just more brownies), Mike picking up the silver (twice as many as Gavin) and Rusty won the gold (guess how many brownies he got?).

If you said three times as many, you were wrong. It was in fact four times. :)

After the ceremony, the players contemplated the past four days. Mostly the consensus was “it was a great event, but now I feel as though I have no reason to game any more… I’ve played against the best and performed admirably. Now where to go?”

Mike, the silver medalist, in particular was circumspect about his future. “I think it’s time to move on with the next phase of my life,” was his comment.

Many followed his lead and decided to take their leave from TSC right then and there. They had all formed a great bond over the past four years, but ironically, after that bond brought them to meet, it withered away…

Then slowly they left, leaving just Jay and Jennie left in the house. Jennie had a question for Jay: “With all the best players gone, what’re you going to do?”

Jay replied: “I would just say ‘they’ll be back,’ but they sounded serious… I can’t really say that with any authority. That leaves just one more option…” and he prepared himself to apply the most dramatic voice he could muster…

Jennie inquired “And what might that be?”

Jay made his dramatic statement: “As of this moment, the Sonic Center is hereby… DISBANDED.”

And here is my SUPERSECRET ending to the Conventional Trilogy which I’d planned even since the first fake chat. Don’t you just love it?

Didn’t think so.

As if reflective of that comment, they went up to the second storey and watched the six cars leave the way they had came. With little thought as to how the three teams with smashed cars would explain the situation, they cleaned up the house and packed away all the gaming systems. Then, later that day, the Sonic Center “mysteriously” disappeared… and it would never be restored again.

*starts crying* How tragic… oh wait, I wrote that!

And here’s another inconsistency in the plot. No way it would ever happen like that – I’m just taking a stab at the amount of people “retiring” lately.

The next day…

<gbagcn> is anyone here

<gbagcn> no, really

<Rolken> nobody likes you~

<Rolken> everyone left you~

<Rolken> they’re all out without you~

<Rolken> having fun~

* Rolken has quit IRC (Quit: thanks for the memories!)

I like picking on gbagcn, as you can tell. :)

The idea in this one is that everyone else knows of the disbanding, and it’s only ignorant little gbagcn left. Rolken quoting Green Day is out of character a little, but works great here. The song is called Homecoming, which works, I guess.

FIN~