CommunityFortress

Oh, man.  I'm getting hot flashes just thinking about it.

It was love at first sight, you know.  I saw her in just another ETF2L article.  She was going to be honored with a 1-day cup, which is quite an honor.  The other teams played her constantly all day, but what they did to her while I wasn't looking didn't matter because I knew that she was the one for me.

No other American understood her like I did.  The Europeans saw her for what she possessed and fought over her.  She just wasn't like that.

But I had to meet her in person.  I had to see her with my own two eyes.  So I convinced an admin at tf2.pug.na before I got banned for being deemed not cool enough to hang with them to let us play this mystery map.  Luckily, the admin obliged.  It was the best time of my pugging life, and I'll never forget it.

She was so beautiful.  She had eyes like two doorways, each leading to the upper platform that connects the second point to the base.  They stared at me for the whole round... and I stared back.  Does that make me bad?

Behind her thin veil lied the most simple yet complex soul that I had ever seen.  It made me want to write poetry.  Everything about her looks reminded me of my childhood.  When I was with her, I felt as though I were still in q2dm1.  She's had a makeover since then, though.  Her creator put a lot of effort into making her look pretty for all the other teams.  She's much more detailed and looks much better for all the teams... but to me, she'll always just be that simple soul I met on ETF2L.

But my favorite thing about her was the fact that she made us think outside of the standards.  She was such a pioneer and a rebel.  Rather than having her teams grow accustomed to standardizing forms of play so that every session becomes nothing more than a repetitive task, she was such a visionary that she evolved the way in which we play with her.  She was so smart.  Because she knew that healthpacks close to her middle point were a faux pas for the people she wanted to attract, she put one right on top of the point itself but kept it out of the reach of everyone but the most projectile of classes so that only the worthy would be able to attain her.  I was so envious of my teammates, during our time together, for being able to reach her forbidden places that I could never even dream to go.

Eventually, though, my moment came.  I charged my uber, thrusting my pocket in and out of her chokes all the way through to her final point, and when the time came, I did.  In that moment, leading up to our thrust into her final point, I let out all of my day's frustrations.  In that moment, I was her Ubermensch.  I was in control.  It all hinged on me... and for 10 seconds after that moment I felt at one with the world, content in the fact that our prize, her final point, would soon be mine.

But it wasn't to be.  Things as good as that never are.

In that deafening pleasure, I almost thought that I heard someone say that our attack had failed, and as soon as she had made me feel at peace, she had made me feel such pain.  Much too much.

She left me... and after that round, I never saw her again.  For all I know, she's probably with another team right now... with another Medic.

I'm not bitter, though.  I was foolish to think that it would last.  How could I expect her to be at the end of the road, alongside me?

So, cp_obscure, if you're out there... I want you to know something,

I love you.