cusp
\ kuhsp \ , noun;
1. a point or pointed end.
2. Anatomy, Zoology, Botany. a point, projection, or elevation, as on the crown of a tooth.
3. Also called spinode. Geometry. a point where two branches of a curve meet, end, and are tangent.
4. Architecture. a decorative device, used especially in Gothic architecture to vary the outlines of intradoses or to form architectural foils, consisting of a pair of curves tangent to the real or imaginary line defining the area decorated and meeting at a point within the area.
5. Astronomy. a point of a crescent, especially of the moon.
6. Astrology. a. the zodiacal degree that marks the beginning of a house or a sign. b. Informal. a person born on the first day of a sign.
7. a point that marks the beginning of a change: on the cusp of a new era.
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“Ladies
and gentlemen, we stand at the cusp of new era.” Henry said as he ran his fingers along the
top of his cards. “One in which I am the
champion. Where I reign supreme.”
He set
his card down, adding it to his mass of colorfully illustrated cards. Jessica sat on the other side of the table,
unconcerned with the latest addition to the ever growing army set against
her. She simply peered over the top of her
hand.
“Sorry,
little boy, but I have yet to lose to you, and have no intention of starting
now.” She said calmly. Henry’s eye twitched. He hated when she called him little. They were the same age. She had no right to call him that. Well, other than the fact that she stood a
full foot taller than him, but that hardly counted, right?
“You can’t
win, Jess. You know that. I mean, look at your paltry forces versus my
mighty army. How could you even think of
victory under these conditions?”
The
playing field was heavily stacked in Henry’s favor. He had a field filled with some of the most
powerful creature cards he could afford, all backed up with numerous
enchantments and other enhancement cards.
Jessica, on the other hand, had a mere three creatures, and none of them
were anything special, nor did they have any kind of enhancements or other such
support. All she had were the cards in
her hand. The next turn would since it
for Henry.
The two
had played countless games before and he had never even come close to
winning. Now though, now he was one turn
away from his first factory against the current champion. A new era would begin, one where he was the
person the new players looked up to. It
would be him who they all asked for tutelage, not her. She would be old news, and all he had to do
was play a single card on his next turn, and finish her off.
“I think
I’ll play…this one.” Jessica said. She set her card gently on the table in the appropriate
area. Henry’s eye twitched again. It was a defensive card that would nullify
all incoming damage for a single turn. It
was annoying, but all it would mean was she would survive another turn, and he
would get more powerful, making her defeat all the more potent.
“Ah,
staving off the inevitable, are we? I
see you must be getting scared. Afraid
of what’ll happen in the age of Henry?”
“No, not
really. Mainly because that age is still
a long way off.” She said.
“Playing
it cool, huh? Well, it doesn’t
matter. Your loss will be sweet enough
for me. But for now, I’ll play these two
cards and call it a turn.” He had played
another powerful creature, and attached an enhancement that would double its
attack power the next time it did so.
Jessica
calmly drew her next card and discarded her last line of defense. She looked him dead in the eye after looking
at what it was. Henry felt a chill run
down his spine. He knew that look. It was the look she got when she had drawn
the winning card. But it was impossible,
right? There was no way she could win.
“Let’s
see, how about these two cards…” The cards she set down were worrisome. One made it so that the next time she took
damage, she would be healed for the same amount. The next would make it so that the next time
she took damage, he would suffer the same amount. But he had both too much life and too many
attacking cards. He could easily weather
that storm simply by hitting her with her weaker cards first. “And then follow it up with a little thing
called Sudden Death.” She said, as she
set the card down.
Henry
looked at the card blankly. He could
almost feel the color drain from his face.
It was a super rare card with an equally powerful ability if used correctly. It dealt enough damage to each player to put
them both at one hit point, making the match go to whoever could land a single
hit on the other. A real sudden death
match. The problem was the other two
cards she had played. Since the Sudden
Death card did its job with direct damage, Jessica’s hit points had just gone
up instead of down, and the damage she would have been dealt had been transferred
to him. In one swift move, she had
beaten him and his powerful army. He sat
there in disbelief, looking at the three cards that had done him in.
“See, I
told you.” She said as she started to
collect her cards one by one. “Your so
called Age of Henry is still a long way off.”
She deliberately left the three victory cards for last, picking them up
slowly and carefully, making sure he saw them as long as possible. “But hey, if you want to try again with a different
deck, be my guest little boy.”
She stood up and left the
table. A new player eagerly went up to
her, asking her opinion of his latest deck.
Henry just sat there, with two thoughts flowing through his mind. One was the disbelief of his most recent
loss. The second was an idea for another
deck. One that was as unbeatable as
anyone could hope to make. He smiled as
he mentally went over the list of cards he would need. The Age of Henry would come, he would make
sure of that.
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If you couldn't tell, this would be a completely made up card game, which is why only one card has an actual name. But it is based on real games of this nature. If you don't know, look up trading card games. They can be a lot of fun if you have people to play with.
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