Alexa and Corey set about shuffling their decks. Alexa
had chosen to use a starter deck similar to Corey's, to give him a fighting
chance - it would be no fair to him if she went in with the powerful top-tier deck
she usually used, while he only had a basic starter deck. With this done, they
inserted their first six Chips into their CC Systems, which whirred into life,
a heads-up display appearing on their holovisors. "Hey, this is even
cooler than I expected!" Corey remarked.
"Hey, now, don't get too distracted, kid," said
Alexa. "Tell you what: since this is your first time battling, I'll be
nice and let you go first. Alright?"
"Alright, thanks sis!" said Corey. "First,
I'll activate Power Shield, Ember Shield, and Droplet Shield!" Corey pressed
the respective buttons on his arm-mounted screen, and two shields surrounded
him; first a faint white one, then another that swirled with both bubbles and
flames. Any damage he took would now be reduced by 25%, with further reductions
for Fire or Water-type attacks. And since those were only Passive Chips, he
still had an Active Chip left to activate.
"Let's see… next, I'll activate Frost Strike!"
Corey pressed the button, and through the holovisor, he saw an icy-cold blast
emerge from his hand and strike his older sister directly. The powerful
Ice-type blow dealt 2,500 CP of damage, leaving Alexa with 7,500 CP left. First
blood to Corey.
"Not a bad first turn," Alexa remarked.
"But having that many shields up is gonna limit your other options."
This was true. The downside of Passive Chips was that they took up slots that
could be filled by Active or Dormant Chips. With only three slots left for
attacks, traps, healing, and other such moves, Corey's options were going to be
limited. Fortunately, he had the option to discard one Chip per turn and draw a
new one, but he had no guarantee that what he drew was going to be any better
than what he'd discarded, and if you discarded twenty Chips, you lost. In any
case, it wasn't his turn anymore.
"Right, my turn," said Alexa. "First, I
activate Power Booster!" She tapped a button on her arm and a fiery but
faint red glow appeared around her fists. Alexa's attacks were now 25%
stronger, effectively cancelling out Corey's Power Shield. "Next, I
activate Droplet Shield!" A faint blue shield swirling with bubbles
surrounded Alexa. Any Water-type attacks Corey used would now be less
effective. "Finally, I use Weakening Strike!" A small red beam shot
out of Alexa's holovisor, striking Corey. While this only dealt 1,000 CP of
damage, it reduced his attack power by 10% of its base value. Next turn his
attacks would be slightly weaker.
Corey started his second turn by discarding one of his Chips,
which happened to be Droplet Strike. With Alexa also having a Droplet Shield
up, Droplet Strike, the weakest Water-type attack, was going to be useless, and
since he had plenty of Chips left, he didn't need to worry about running out.
The Chip he drew to replace it, however, ended up being Spark Shield, which was
equally useless: as Alexa has pointed out, he already had three shields up.
Rather than activating it, he decided to wait until next turn and then discard
it.
"For now, I'll just activate Frost Strike
again!" he said. Lower-level attacks such as this had unlimited charge, so
in longer battles, which this was sure to be, they were invaluable. The icy
blast was slightly smaller this time - a clever effect added by the game to reflect
Corey's lowered attack - but it still seemed powerful to Alexa as it struck
her. Her CP fell to 5,250.
"My turn, then," said Alexa. "I'll
activate Weakening Strike again!" Another red beam struck Corey, lowering
his attack power - and his CP - once more. He was only down to 8,000, however,
and still very much in control of the battle.
As he had decided earlier, Corey started his third turn by
discarding Spark Shield and installing another Chip. This time, it was Dirt
Shield. Are you kidding me?, thought Corey,
annoyed by his sudden misfortune.
"What's the matter, kiddo?" asked Alexa.
"Keep getting bad draws? Don't worry, you're still winning."
"I guess so," said Corey. "Well, anyway…
I'll use Frost Strike again!" Another holographic blast of snow, and
Alexa's health was down to just 3,250 CP. It may not have been the most exciting
battle to watch, but Corey was thoroughly enjoying it, particularly as he was
winning, and by quite a margin.
Alexa, too, started her turn by discarding a Chip. Unlike
Corey, however, her draw was a good one. "I activate Bolt Strike!"
she declared. A holographic bolt of electricity shot out of her holovisor,
striking Corey and dealing 2,500 CP of damage. With Alexa now able to deal more
damage than him per turn, Corey would have to get this wrapped up quickly.
Once more he started by discarding, getting rid of the useless
Dirt Shield, and realizing that the Spark Shield he'd discarded the turn before
would actually have come in handy. Please
don't be another useless shield, he thought, please don't be another useless shield… It wasn't. It was Minor
Repair, a Charged Chip that would restore 1,500 CP when used. He was still at
5,500 CP, so he didn't feel it necessary to use it yet, but it would still be
very handy to have. "Now, Frost Strike again!" Another 2,000 CP lost.
Just one more attack would do it. Perhaps.
Unbeknownst to Corey, Alexa also had a Minor Repair.
However, since it would take up her turn, she wouldn’t be able to deal any
damage in reply, and 1,500 CP wasn't enough to completely negate his attacks. All
she could do was delay what was now the inevitable. He may think he was getting bad draws, but he got a pretty good
starting draw compared to mine, she thought to herself. That's what swung it in his favour. But,
he's not a bad battler either, to be fair. He knows what he has to do to win,
and he does it. I wonder how he'd do with a better deck…
With no way now to stop Corey from winning, Alexa decided
to go out fighting. "I activate Bolt Strike again!" Corey's CP went
down to 3,000, but that was still enough for him. "Good job, kiddo,"
said Alexa. "Looks like you've won your first match. Even if you were just
spamming the same move the whole time," she added jokingly.
"Yeah, but it worked, didn't it?" Corey pointed
out.
"Yeah," said Alexa, "and at the end of the
day, that's the important thing. Now come on, finish me off." She spread
her arms wide, ready to receive the final holographic blow.
"Alright
then," said Corey. "One more time: Frost Strike!" For the fifth
time, an icy blast emanated from Corey's left hand, striking his sister
full-on. This time, her CP dropped all the way to zero, and that was it: game
over. Corey had won.
"Nice job, kiddo," said Alexa, smiling proudly.
"You did well. You're not gonna beat everyone with that starter deck,
though, so make sure you get some more Chips and keep improving your deck."
"I will," said Corey, as he discarded his
installed Chips. His enthusiasm for the game had been bolstered by this win, and
now he was determined to go on and become the best BattleGrid player he could
become. Surpassing his sister wouldn't be too much of a stretch, in his mind,
since he had already beaten her once.
"Alright then," said Alexa. "And once
you've got a top-tier deck, I'll battle you again with my usual deck. You
oughta have a harder time with that one." She grinned.
"We'll see about that," said Corey confidently.
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