The arena reverberated with celebration. Pepper scanned the stands and saw the crowd applauding the match. His heart was torn in two. One half wanted to enjoy the moment, the other half was now being pulled into an abyss of regret.
“KBVS, we have our finalists! We’re going to take an hour’s break, but be sure to come back for our championship round—Tamin versus Pepper!” the announcer declared.
Pepper turned to leave his gladiator stand. There awaiting him were Brent, Summer, Reggie, and Jackson. Their faces beamed with joy, and they received him with hugs and congratulations. The guilt he was feeling started to fade away, and he now welcomed the victory.
“Come on! Let’s grab some food. And… the best part… it’s on me!” Brent exclaimed.
A new round of cheers rang out from his friends. The group started to shuffle over towards the food cart vendors who lined the parking lot and picnic table area. Pepper was stunned to see a multitude of children approaching him, asking for his autograph. He politely smiled and signed the small program that the KBVS had printed up for the club match.
Is this a big deal? Could this be my moment? he wondered while ordering a burrito from Tito’s Taco Truck, or T3 for short. “Brent, you don’t have to buy me lunch.”
His best friend smiled back. “P-Dub! Don’t mention it. You’ve already hooked me up with some serious Flex coins today. It’s the least I could do.”
He was about to ask how that was possible, but he caught himself once he realized. A small knot of irritation grew inside him. “I’m telling you, man, that gambling thing is not going to end well for you.”
Brent blew a raspberry. “Come on, P-Dub, lighten up a little. Celebrate this win for a few minutes before you go all serious on me again. You’ll give Tamin another good beating that he deserves and then… we wait for your Regional Invitation!”
“I thought you could have done better.”
“Jackson Miller!” Summer scolded her brother from behind the two.
Pepper began to chuckle and turned to see Jackson standing behind him. A serious look was on his face and he clutched a cheeseburger and fry basket in his arms. “You wasted too much time and energy dancing around the arena. Get in there, get business done, and be on to the next thing,” Jackson said.
Pepper smiled. “You know what, Jackson? You certainly have a point. There’s always room for improvement.”
“There certainly is—a lot of room for improvement in your case.”
“Jackson Miller, that is enough! Let’s go grab a seat, and you be more thoughtful with your words, Mister.” Summer had an embarrassed look on her face. She eagerly pulled Jackson away from Pepper and led him over to a picnic table.
“Order 45, order 45, 46, and 47. Your food is ready.”
The guys grabbed their food and headed for the others. Reggie softly added, “Man, I didn’t realize Jackson was so ruthless. That might have to be his new nickname. You Soulless and him Ruthless.”
The three chuckled. “Well, what would that make me, then?” Brent asked.
“Clueless.”
Pepper spat out the soda he had just taken a mouthful of. Reggie started to laugh, and Brent ignored the two for the next minute as they all took a seat around the picnic table. Reggie was in good spirits even though he had lost in the semifinal round. His holodex was buzzing with activity, and it seemed like every ten seconds he was swiping another notification away.
“Well, look who is the popular person at that table now,” Pepper joked.
Reggie shook his head. “Man… I post on my League Chat that I got two wins today and now everybody is coming out of the woodwork wanting to congratulate me and catch up. Stuff’s crazy, man.”
“I just put my holodex on silent and pause all notifications for the day. Last thing you want is your wrist buzzing in the middle of a match and having it distract you at a critical moment.”
Reggie took a bite of his burrito and pointed at Pepper. “You see… that is some finalist wisdom right there.”
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Jackson tilted his head in confusion. “Do you know what the actual definition of wisdom is? Because that isn’t something I would associate with Pepper.”
“Jackson Miller, I swear this is your last warning.”
Pepper giggled and could see Summer’s face was glowing red from a mixture of embarrassment and anger. She pressed her lips together and shook her head. Pepper tried to cool the tension between the siblings. “Hey, Summer, congrats again on getting accepted to nursing school. You looking forward to it?”
Summer took a moment to compose herself, but she smiled and turned her attention away from Jackson. “I am. I mean, you remember, Pep, I’ve been practically dreaming about nursing school since before we lived with you guys. I was really stressing at first, though. You know, with the cost of attending and everything… but something really great happened.” She paused, and the suspense built among the group as everyone turned and gave her their full attention.
“I received word that everything is going to be fully covered.”
The table cheered for her, and she smiled from ear to ear. Her eyes filled with happy tears, but she was able to hold them at bay. “I was really nervous. I mean, we knew that the American Demonic Defense Act stated it would pay for the education of any child who had a parent die defending the country in the Rift Wars. But you still question if it’s going to go through. So, it took longer for me to hear back than I wanted, and I started to question it all, but now… it’s really feeling real, you know?” She smiled and shifted in her seat.
Pepper couldn’t help but notice that Summer looked as if a ton of weight had been lifted off her shoulders. He watched her take a deep breath and thought he saw a wave of peace come over her. She shifted her gaze back to Jackson.
“I still worry about… things.” She paused and nodded towards her brother. His attention was elsewhere, staring at other people, and he didn’t notice her gesture. “But at the end of the day, I have to do this… I know this is the path I’m supposed to take in life. It just feels right.”
“That’s awesome, Summer. I’m excited for you, and I’m certainly going to miss having you around,” Pepper added.
She immediately rolled her eyes in response. “Oh, whatever! Pepper Walker, you have wanted to get out of this small hick town from the day we met. You are going to go back in there, win this club match, be invited to Regionals, win that, and will be long gone from these old dirt roads.”
Jackson turned and looked at the table with a confused expression. “There isn’t a single dirt road in this county! The Demonic Threat Infrastructure Relief Act paid for every county road to be paved. That way the military could move their equipment in and out near the rift portal.”
“I told y’all—ruthless,” Reggie said, and the boys laughed.
A curious look came over Summer’s face, but she shook it off and took another bite of her food. Pepper looked out over the seating area and saw Sabrina walking through with a group of friends. He quickly wiped his face and stood up. “Be right back.”
He jogged over to catch up with her as her group of friends had dwindled down to only one by her side. “Sabrina.”
She stopped dead in her tracks and motioned to her friend to keep going. She turned around with a sad but also resentful look on her face. Her arms were crossed in front of her and she shifted her weight. “Yeah?”
“Look, I…” Pepper nervously grabbed the back of his neck and massaged it. “I shouldn’t have ruptured your power core like that. As soon as my golem did that, I realized how messed up that was and how far back I just set you until you can compete again. It was stupid and…”
“Soulless,” she said in a firm tone. She arched her eyebrow and tilted her head.
“Yeah… that. Look, I’m sorry. You’re not just a competitor, you’re a friend, and I shouldn’t have done that. I just… I wanted to apologize to your face.”
She sighed and nodded. “It’s okay, Pepper. It sucks, it hurts, but… that’s a part of this sport and this league. I probably would have done the same as you. Not even hesitated but go for the kill. I get it.”
“Seriously, Sabrina. I’m sorry.”
She rolled her head and then brought her arm up and gave his shoulder a nudge. “Come on, man. Don’t sweat it. It’s who we are and what we do. Just watch your back, because… I’ll be coming for my rematch sooner than you think.” She winked and looked back to where her friends were regathering. “All right, slick, I gotta get back to my friends. See you soon.” She pointed to her eyes, then turned her hand around and pointed at him. She smiled and winked as she walked away.
Pepper smiled too and felt relief wash over him. There was still sadness in his heart, but certainly not the regret and guilt he had been feeling up until that moment. He returned to the table and looked at Reggie. “Have you told anyone else that my nickname is Soulless?”
Reggie dropped his burrito on the table. His hand flared back in the kind of defensive motion one would see in old movies. “Me… spread word that a ginger is soulless? Never.” The table laughed and Reggie finally added, “Boy, I tell everyone I know that my nickname for you is Soulless. Come on now.”
“Well, I’m at least glad she accepted my apology,” Pepper replied.
“You should be,” Jackson interjected. The whole table turned their attention to Jackson, who shoved another French fry into his mouth.
“Why do you say that, Jackson?” Pepper asked.
“Because Sabrina’s golem is worth about three of yours. She spent a lot of money on that thing, and you just set her back a lot.” There was a pause for a second, but Jackson just stared at Pepper and added, “Just look at her stat screen.”
Pepper was now curious and decided to do just that. Her stat screen loaded up and his eyes widened. He felt his mouth gape further open with every nanosecond that passed. Reality set in as his mind added the sound effect of coins being dropped out of an old casino machine.
“That power core was a rare pink variation of a Forge Inferno? Her energy whip was made by Celestial Elf, and she had two energy refinement runes made by Campell? How in the world did she ever pay for those?”
Reggie and Brent shared Pepper’s expression, while Summer seemed concerned but not overly mortified. Jackson playfully flung another fry into his mouth and smiled widely. “Told you.”