“Some things can be appreciated beyond what this world has…”
October 15th - 11:26 am
“Hey, Michael! How’s it going?”
“I’m well, Emile. How are you?”
“Nice, nice! Can’t complain since it’s been a slow day. Checking your queue, it looks like you touched every ticket you worked on.”
“Some tickets are ongoing but I’m still waiting for others to respond.”
“Right, sometimes they’ll answer, sometimes they’re hard to get. Keep working on those tickets and close them if you get no response after 3 emails.”
“Will do.”
“Another thing I do want to bring up is we’ll be setting up a conference room for Scott and Joe in a few weeks for a conference on campus.”
“Oh… yeah. What will I have to do?”
“So you and Brett will have to image a laptop. Doesn’t need to follow normal procedures. You’ll just create an easy local admin account and have them sign into their Office apps. The projector may be a challenge with the resolution issue, but the laptop we’ll be issuing should circumvent that.”
“How early can we set this up?”
“You’ll have to coordinate with Scott to schedule a time to get everything worked on: their files needing to sync over, download the necessary apps, run all updates, and anything else.”
“I see…”
“I know it’s been a rough couple of weeks for you, so I wanted to check in and see if you need anything from me.”
“It has been difficult, but I’ll be okay.”
“I’m glad to hear it! Did anything happen that’s making you feel a little better?”
“Only the support from my uncle and my friends. They help me keep doing what I need to do.”
“Family and friends are always great to have when you need them. Happy to hear that things are better. Some things can be appreciated beyond what this world has.”
“I agree.”
“Before we finish our check-in, need anything from me?”
“Not at the moment, but I’ll let you know if anything comes up.”
“Sounds good! Have a great weekend, and keep me posted on anything.”
“Same to you.”
“Alright, bye!”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
October 15th - 11:44 am
In the Art-Sociology building, a blonde-haired girl entered the gallery maze. She took a flight of steps and passed down the long path to her right. Behind the tan gateway was a field of familiar faces.
The once lightly shone room was blackened by grave glares.
"Oh… we have a guest."
The sky blue-haired undergraduate on the other side had to restrain her lips from curving up.
"Hey guys."
Hollow silence filled the air.
"S-sorry for missing our meetings lately," Julia’s shaky voice rang throughout the room. "I've been-"
"You guys can continue here. Julia, we can talk outside."
"Umm, okay."
They were distant enough that their voices never echoed past their temples.
"So why are you here?"
"I thought I could come back and at least still help out while I can."
"What makes you think I want you back with the group?" His demeanor struck a chord in her heart. "We welcome real artists."
"Look," she greatly exhaled. "I know what I did because of-"
"Because of what? What could you possibly justify using it?"
"You knew how awful she treated us!"
"Yeah, your point?"
"Excuse me?"
"We were all overworked and stressed out, but none of us stooped to the point of using that. You did."
"You make it sound like I committed a terrible crime."
"It's not because you used AI for art. You claimed it as your work. Made money off of them. You didn't even feel bad doing it. Hell, do you see the campus promoting stuff using that?!"
"... … …"
"You knew how wrong it was. At least we had the decency to deal through it all."
"You can't possibly be okay with how Cree-"
"She knew how harmful AI art was. You didn't. I'd rather be treated like shit than have you back. How can we be sure you won't use it again? No… better yet, we're better off without you. We can't let our group be infested by parasites anymore."
"You can't be serious? Give me another chance at least."
"No. I'm not doing that."
"Just listen!" Julia swallowed her pride and bravely locked his gaze. "I know it was wrong. It doesn't justify it despite all that happened to me. I'll start over! I can make a new name for myself to owe it up."
"Can?"
"What?"
"You mean you wouldn't?"
"That's not what I-"
"Leave."
"Will!"
"Julia, you don't belong here. Let's leave it at that."
"This group is all I have…"
"Then find a new one!" Will stepped a few steps before turning his head. “You never belonged here anyway.” He calmly entered the classroom.
Julia traversed in the opposite direction, found the restroom, and slammed the stall. Her sorrows plagued her mind. Melancholy waters broke her eyelids.
“... … …”
“Fuck my life!!!"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
October 15 - 12:08 pm
Seven ladies in red penny jerseys marched down the grassy plains. Preston passed to Molts who lateralled across to Hwang. Lobbing to the center, Smith absorbed the ball by the arch of her left cleat. She flicked with the back of her heel before Fay slung a precise thirty-five-degree angle kick before hooking it to the mini net.
"Nice one, Fay!" Stephanie cheered, assertively clapping her hands.
"Good shot! Good shot!" Jade praised, jogging to give Fay a high five.
Soon the other four followed suit. Whistles rung the whole field.
"Strong finish!" The assistant coach complimented. "Keep up the strong pressing and the goals come later! Remember to never leave your position!"
Beep! Beep!
"Alright team, let's gather around," the middle-aged man in a fleece jacket spoke with glazed eyes. The entire squad lined in a curve. Fay buried herself behind the front. "Good practice. Make sure to rest up and be ready for tomorrow's match."
Jillian brought a whiteboard. It depicted a soccer field with red magnetic dots forming a 4-3-3. Coach Leves directed his hand on it.
"Expect them to box up the midfield. Bowman and Romina have a strong linkup so our back four must contain them on the flank. I'll finalize the starting eleven tonight and set out a game plan. Be at Ludwig Field at 11 am."
All nodded in unison.
"Captain."
"Bring it here, loves," The team encircled Renard, wrapping their arms around each other. "We're here to take each opportunity one at a time. Don't lose focus and seize the moment. One game at a time. Terps on three. One, two, three!"
"Terps!"
Minutes ticked by as the players gathered their belongings and departed the field. The striker finished sending a text and noticed the number 7 who took several paces back. One strike went wide left.
"Fay, practice is over."
She nabbed another ball, aggressively slammed it on a white dot, and attempted another shot. Wide left again.
"You don't have to push yourself. You'll risk getting hurt."
"Hurt?" Sophia appeared unfazed but wanted to smack herself. "How can I get hurt if I never play?"
"Fay, um-"
"I'll just train more. I need more reps," The athlete mounted another one at the right corner of the penalty box. One deep sigh before swinging her left cleat. It went above the crossbar. “Just need to keep going.”
After six missed shots in various directions, Fay retrieved every practice ball and recycled her routine. The outcome remained unchanged. Her vexation became more animated as she carelessly let her cleats run amok.
Chiesa slowly hung her shocked head and never turned back.
One shot blasted through the skies. The lone player charged toward the game net, her eyes glazing over the white metallic post.
“AGH!!” A vibrant hum left behind scratched marks.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
October 15th - 12:33 pm
“One more! Come on!”
“Rrrrrgghh, raaaahh!!” Her arms fully reached out like bamboo and displaced the barbell on the handles. She instantly lost all feeling in her arms. “Whew! That was tough!”
“Hell yeah! Always push on until you’re all gassed up,” Marie applauded while grabbing a bronze-plated wheel and inserting each side. “One more set and I’m done.”
Allyson's mind ran around endlessly by the fighter’s ability to withstand substantial weight before barely scraping by her last two repetitions. After stretching their bodies, they retrieved their belongings in the locker room before returning to the main floor.
“Hey, wanna grab a bite? Eating after a workout helps your muscles recover faster.”
“Where at?”
“There’s this place called Krazi Burrito. I usually go there after a heavy day. Cheap and you get a good bang for your buck.”
“Yeah, I’m down!”
They walked across campus and were just on the right side of Montgomery Hall. In a small stand just next to the Marathon Deli, the venue had two concessions on opposing sides. One side had large tortillas stacked near the presser. Allyson mostly adhered to Marie’s order except for choosing chicken instead of steak.
“Damn, this burrito is good,” the long-haired woman felt a savory river flood her mouth.
“I’m telling ya if you need a good post-workout meal, this is the place. Cheaper than Chipotle and honestly looks healthier.”
“Is there hot sauce? Lemme get one,” the question was discarded as she snubbed a bottle of Cholula.
“Hey, Allyson, while we’re still here, about yesterday,” Marie quietly chatted.
“Is this about Michael?”
“Yeah… what did you think of it?”
“Think of what?”
“You know, his world and the weird trials. Did anything stand out? Trying to see what people think."
“I don’t know. It felt like there were lots of things he wanted to do but ended up doing it himself.”
“What do you mean?”
“Each trial required one person to participate, and the trial felt like a game. You had to do it by yourself. Maybe that’s how Michael felt.”
“Really?" Marie perplexingly replied, raising her brows. “I didn’t think of it like that. I saw it more as him living in his fantasy.”
“Huh?”
“I was trying to piece them all together and thought Michael was trying to escape from the real world.”
“Uhh, yeah, no. I don’t think that’s it.”
“You were nice enough to play a game he likes that none of us do. It keeps him happy.”
Allyson nearly crunched her eyebrows. “I guess so. Him awakening his Soul Channel was a surprise. I thought he already had that.”
“I know, right?” The short-haired student acquiesced. “I was under the impression that we established our Soul Channel. Does he have another one then? But what about me? Do I have a Soul Channel?”
“Uhh… noooo?” The transfer student simultaneously twisted and tilted her head sideways.
“Ugh, It’s getting more confusing, but then again we’re making more progress than before.”
"What even is that world?"
"Beats me."
"Speaking of that, Marie, how did you know about that world? Like how did you stumble upon it?"
"Let's finish up here and walk. I'll tell you."
After finishing their meals, they walked across Chapel Lawn and were on a trajectory to the sidewalk of Chapel Lane and Regents Drive.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
February 20th, 2019 - 7:18 pm
An undergraduate student had exited the Eppley building, arching her physique in all directions. Filling her head with intense striking guitar chords, she strode in rhythm en route to her dorm.
She opted to fly down the incline rather than up the stony stairway.
Until an echoing ping halted her posture.
What she saw made her legs feel like iron.
Elizabeth: Have you heard from Theo? He hasn’t been home yet…
“No I haven’t… what happened to him? I thought he was just meeting a friend.”
Elizabeth: I’m checking his location but it’s saying he’s been in Rockville since 8:34 am.
“Please, please, please find him! I’m getting worried…”
Elizabeth: Dad and I are heading there to see where he is. I’ll keep you posted.
“Thanks.”
What felt like lava coursing throughout her body. She sat on the chilling step and dug her nails into the flesh of her cranium. Three hours ticked by. She constantly checked the lock screen per second. At several points, the undergraduate rushed down to the campus farm and then returned to Centreville Hall.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
This time, a singing bell rang.
Elizabeth: Hey, Marie… so do you want to hear the good or bad news first?
“Good news.”
Elizabeth: We found Theo.
“Whew! That’s really good to hear!”
Elizabeth: For the bad news, well…
“What is it?”
Elizabeth: We found him in…
The receiver felt the sharp breeze penetrate her temple. Her posture transformed into a sculpted statue.
Elizabeth: I know it’s a serious situation right now. I’m not sure what we’ll do.
“Thanks. I need a breather right now.”
Elizabeth: I understand. Let’s hope for the better.
The conversation had ended its transmission. The young student marched back to her dorm at a turtle’s pace. With free space, Marie masked her face on the cushy pillow and belted out a scream. One slam with her left fist. Crystal beads flowed down like a waterfall.
“Theo… why? W-why?!”
A humming vibration coerced her to check her handheld device.
The screen was all pitch-black. In the middle radiated a crimson-red ember.
“What’s this?”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“That’s crazy. What was that world like when you were there?”
“It was at HQ, believe it or not.”
“No way, for real?! Do you remember anything else? Must’ve felt so surreal.”
“Nope,” Marie swerved her head sideways. “It felt like living in a dream. I thought it was when I woke up the next morning. For a while, it did.”
“What changed?”
“I saw Teach walk into the Van Munching about a month later. Must’ve been that year. He was with another student. I thought it was weird because he never had lectures in that building, so I followed them. Next thing I knew, I was back in that world.”
“So he already knew then? But who was the student with him?”
“... … …”
“Marie?”
“That student… was Leo Yoon.”
A wave of shivering realization crawled her back. “W-wait. Didn’t we see his name on-”
“Yeah,” she interrupted, leaving a smidge of wrinkled brows.
“I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s alright.”
“Was he-”
“Mmm hmm,” a black screen was all she was seeing. “He was an important member.”
“What happened?”
“I’ll tell you another time. By the way, you doing anything tonight?”
“Oh, study a bit for midterms, but I got nothing else after.”
“Same here, just want the midterms to end soon. So, Julia and I are gonna head to Terp House for some drinks. You should come with us!”
“Oh!” The lights in her eyes flickered. “Sure! I could loosen up after studying.”
“I’ll send you a text later on when we’ll meet up.”
“What about the others?”
“Jackson’s got that smash tournament, which I think Fay and Jansen are tagging along.”
“I wonder if Fay’s gonna win.”
“No doubt she will.”
“Is she that good?”
“One time we did a 5v1 against Fay in Smash and lost… badly. We only took one stock.”
“Welp, she has nothing to worry about!”
Ring! Ring!
Marie’s irises rolled around when inspecting the phone’s incoming call. “Sorry, let me take this call. What?”
Her icy frown became misty upon hearing the caller’s relayed message.
“Are you serious right now?! You promised that you were going to take care of him today! I need to study for my midterms. I’m fucking busy!”
Another digital chatter flowed to her ear.
“You’re busy? No, no, no! Have the decency to take him somewhere so he isn’t in the house all day. You are not breaking another promise.”
Allyson’s heart uncontrollably shook inside. The unknown caller recommenced the conversation.
“Fine… I’ll do it.”
“I’m sorry, Marie. I know I’m telling you this on short notice, but this is something I need to do.”
“More important than Theo?”
“I’m sorry.”
“What’s more important than him? Huh?!”
“I can’t tell you. Goodbye.”
“Margaret!” The lock screen was what remained. “That bitch…”
“Marie?”
“Damn,” she cursed as she shut her eyes and weaved her head back and forth. “Sorry, you had to see that. Bad timing I guess.”
“It’s all good, but who’s Margaret?”
“She’s my older sister.”
“Doesn’t sound like you get along with her.”
“Yeah, no shit,” she agitatedly scoffed, marginally bulging her pupils. “Her work has no business interfering with my life.”
“Where does she work at?”
“She’s a lawyer. Nothing special.”
“Huh? Wouldn’t that be a big position?”
“Depending on what you mean. Sure it’s a well-respected job, but it isn’t all that.”
“Umm… who’s the other person then, Theo?”
“... … …” her shadowed expression shot a crack in Allyson’s nerves. Marie infuriatingly let out steam from her mouth. “Just don’t tell this to anyone, please?”
“Promise.”
“Theo is my brother.”
“Little brother?”
“No, he’s a year older than me,” her answer caused Allyson’s brows to arch up. “I’m the youngest in the family.”
“Really? How many siblings do you have?”
“Three. Margaret is the oldest. Then it’s Elizabeth, Theo, and me. We’re quite a big family.”
“Must be a party. I have a younger brother. Wish I had a sister though.”
“Believe me, it’s not fun,” she left an enigmatic quirk on her lips. “They'll get on your nerves for anything.”
"Hahahaha!" Both women let loose their tense laughing boxes.
Crossing her arms, "Kinda unlucky though because I just invited you to a night out, but it doesn't seem like we can do that now."
"Oh…… some bad timing."
"Another time. Anyway, I gotta head home now. I'll see you around!"
"Yeah…catch ya later!"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
October 15th - 2:11pm
Just off the skirts of campus, on a downward slope on Stanford Street, Jansen grabbed his backpack and stepped out of the house. Simultaneously walking to his vehicle and checking his phone, an unknown automobile pulled up behind his driveway.
"Hey, little Jan!"
"Shit…" his teeth clashed while zipping his mouth. He apathetically sighed. "What do you guys want?"
"Figured you may need a ride from us."
"Why? I'm using my car."
"I don't know," The passenger angled his head near the ground. "You might need to check your tires."
Upon inspecting, he realized his transportation was oddly imbalanced. His claws latched into his cheeks. "Are you serious? What the hell happened?!"
"Well, you got a flat tire," Jansen quietly breathed furious steam from hearing the response. "And since Scott and I are here, we'll offer you a ride to whatever you need to go."
"No thanks."
"We insist! It's the least we can do."
"I'll ask my roommates for a ride."
"Are you that lazy to not accept our offer or even walk? You got legs."
"... … …"
"We'll pay you."
"OK, OK!" He rapidly hollered. "Just take me to McKeldin."
"Hop on in!"
Jansen reluctantly entered the backseat of the car. He held the bag in between his legs.
"And off we go!"
After taking a right on Adelphi Road, Scott made a U-Turn at the next light. As the vehicle approached the right ramp to Campus Drive, he kept going forward.
Turning to the next exit on University Boulevard, the nightmarish air became pervasive in the seemingly perpetual local highway. On the next light, they entered the narrow Golf Course Road.
Jansen bit the lower end of his lip.
Behind the Club House was a roadway that led to a mansion that was split into three foundations. Resilient aluminum pickets surrounded the expensive abode.
The road's name was 3 House Lane.
By the time they reached the residence, Scott parked next to the lot where two other vehicles sat.
"Alright, little Jan, let's go!"
The passenger’s pale, trembling features compelled him not to utter a single word. Once they entered the fancy home, he was taken straight to the main lobby before meeting with the golden steps.
"So tell us…"
"... … …"
"You and that Detective know something about Cree. Spill it!"
"... … …"
Scott stepped away before grabbing stones of caramelized toffee and pelting at him.
"I'm not playing games here," his glaring shot immobilized Jansen's structure. "Somebody killed that woman. Someone decided that her life was worth taking. Someone needs to be brought justice. You work with those cops and I'm not dumb enough to know they don't tell the whole story. So tell us."
"I don't know."
He threw several more tan rocks before leaving clear, viscid mucus on Jansen's cheek. "Yes, you do. Need I remind you what happens if anyone speaks against us like this?"
A monotone film depicted a hospital bed holding a gray-haired man. It then flickered to another resting point of a totaled automobile.
"Okay, okay!" The downed student covered his face and curled himself inward. "I just know that she was escorted and the blackout happened."
Joe lifted and threw Jansen’s back on the flight of stairs. Eye level was tantamount. "We already know that. What else?"
"That's… all I know."
"No, you don’t. You know how much it hurts us to have no one come forward with our friend’s death?"
“... … …”
“We’ve been in a terrible state ever since her death. You saying those words insult her name. Tell us what you know.”
"I told you I don’t know."
"If you aren't going to tell us, then maybe your friend may know. As long as she pays… with interest," he bit his lip and danced his brows up.
"What?"
"Your new friend. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I inquired."
"Leave her out of this."
"Well, she bailed on me when I asked for her help, so this time… she won't do that again."
"You… sick fuck!" Jansen rammed Joe's face with the heel of his sneaker. "Leave her alone."
"How could you hurt me when I’m already in pain?"
"Joe," Scott's lips creepily rose like a dark moon. "Remember what we used to do to him in middle school?"
"Ohhhhh yeahhhh. I think he needs a little trip on memory lane."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
October 15th - 3:48pm
Jackson found an open meter lot on Regents Drive. He scrolled through his phone until his passenger door was open.
“Hi!”
“Ey, ready to go?”
“Uh-huh! I can’t wait for my first Smash tournament!” The sun peaked at high noon on Fay’s face.
“Venue still at campus but let’s go!”
4:01 pm
After parking in Lot 1b, Jackson, his brother, and Fay walked to the side of Campus Drive and entered the lower right entrance of the Stamp building. They found themselves in a lobby between the food court and the lounge. In front of the glass barrier was the Baltimore Room with tables at the far end. A swarm of game consoles, cabled wires, and monitors flooded the arena.
“Yo, what’s up, uno!” A pale-skinned male student stood from the desk and lifted his fist.
“Ey, what’s good,” he bumped with his knuckles.
“I got you and Doz. And did you pre-reg?”
“Uh, I did not,” she quickly rattled her head.
“What’s your tag? I’ll add you.”
The athlete tilted her head right and covered her chin. She had to muse over on creating an alibi. While several seconds passed, it was as if years had flown by.
“I’ll go with… Chiimu!”
“How do you spell that?”
“C…h…i…i…m…u.”
“Alright, added!”
Jackson opened Discord and went to the group server.
#general
Dos Pantalones: @dunes n danes u coming?
Jackson and his brother connected their Switch, Gamecube adapter, monitor, and controllers to their necessary destinations. All three competitors got their hands warmed up for an hour.
5:30 pm
“Everyone, please stop your friendlies! Bracket is about to start! When I call your name, please go to the designated setup. The winner, I repeat, winner… must report to the TO desk. If the loser reports, then he’ll move on to the winner’s bracket. This is a double-elimination, so you are out if you lose two sets. If you go oh and two or one and two, you are automatically added to the redemption bracket.”
“Oh, shit, Fay-” He gazed at the bracket online and noticed his friend’s match.
“On stream, I need PawnKing and Chiimu.”
The soccer player rushed to the wall containing the match setup. Fay sat on the right side and customized her button layout.
“There are five stages we’ll have to start. There are-”
“I want to start PS2.”
“I just want you to understand the rules first.”
“It’s ok, my friend showed me. I want to start PS2.”
“Uh, okay,” the male student with glasses burrowed his brows. “I’ll go easy on her. She thinks she knows it all. I’ll use my secondary that I’ve been wanting to use.”
The arena was Pokemon Stadium 2. Fay chose Terry with the in-game tag “THFC”. Her opponent was “1.e3”.
The character matchup was Terry and Samus.
As the bounty hunter charged a ball of energy, Terry ducked through the right gurney and applied pressure using several uppercuts. When PawnKing attempted to jump right, Fay quickly intercepted and performed a bicycle kick with Terry. Returning to the left platform, Terry put up a shield to guard against the incoming Arm Cannon. Fay released the “L” button right as the collision impacted.
Terry executed a neckbreaker slam before following up with another bicycle kick and then a Rising Tackle. As Fay landed and rushed to her opponent, the male student flicked the analog stick and the red special button for Samus to drop a timer bomb. Terry barely jumped, forcing Samus to execute a spinning roundhouse kick. Anticipating the attack, the athlete blocked the attack and simply faced the bounty hunter. PawnKing reacted by using Samus’ Screw Attack, sending her straight up. Rather than immediately punishing the vulnerable enemy, Fay timed her hop so that both fighters were falling at the same rate.
Terry landed a knife-hand chop, jabbed, and short straight punch. She finished the combo by inputting a capoeira kick. Fay repeated the exact combination when PawnKing fired the fully charged projectile and then swept a low kick.
When recovering from the ledge, he opted to get up and attack, but Fay timed her shield perfectly and retaliated with a rotating back-kick.
The first stock of three lost.
The match did not last a minute as Fay won her first game without losing one of her stocks.
Over at the stream station, the commentators had their eyes grow to the size of the moon.
“Wow! What a surprising beatdown that Chiimu did on PawnKing!”
“In a way, Terry loses this MU to Samus with all her zoning tools keeping him out plus her edge guarding. But you know once Terry gets in, the MU can be even.”
“PawnKing is gonna switch to his main. He didn’t respect Chiimu at all.”
“Uhh, no triplats,” Fay spoke calmly. Jackson and his brother silently pumped their fists.
“Going back to PS2 and I’m switching characters,” he hunched his back forward, unleashing a fierce aura.
“Ok!”
Game 2 was back at the same digital stadium. This time it was Terry against Young Link.
Both fighters danced around in their territory, trying to throw their available resources at each other for cumulative damage.
Terry took first blood by performing a spinning back heel. The soccer player piled on by using a bicycle kick and then a Rising Tackle for approximately 41%. Both characters returned to the neutral state, and Young Link bombarded the fighter with constant boomerangs and fire arrows. Both parties took minuscule damage. One neutral flying sidekick nullified a fire arrow. She quickly did it again. When it hit, Fay inputted the gray stick down, corner, and left special attack, allowing Terry to execute the Burning Knuckle.
Despite not following up with a strong edge guard, Fay managed to rack up more damage with the same move on the left platform before delivering Power Dunk. Allowing PawnKing to return to the stage, he threw a bomb that exploded on him. She punished his mistake with an inverted corkscrew kick but not enough to take down one of his three lives. The little swordsman pulled out another bomb and directed at Terry who caught it and rammed it with his shoulder block.
2-3
PawnKing managed to fight back and get Chiimu to 117%. He had around 73%. Near the left gurney, Young Link slashed in a kneeling inward motion, causing Terry to land on the platform. He used his grappling hook in the opposite direction. One shin kick, one uppercut, one massive erupting geyser energy.
1-3
Fay’s fiery eyes burned greater and continued to focus on her in-screen surroundings sharply. PawnKing erratically shook his head sideways while keeping a disgusted face.
“Holy shit! Chiimu still has three stocks and PawnKing has one! She’ll pull off a huge upset if she can close this out! Or can PawnKing claw his way back?”
With desperate time against him, PawkKing rushed in and pelted her with more bombs, burning arrows, and boomerangs. He continued to use them mindlessly engendering Chiimu to break down his predictable wall. She delivered a jab, jab, Power Dunk combo that made his head twitch. Near the middle of the stage, Young Link got a flying kick, sending Terry to the right. The male gamer leaped forward and grabbed a bomb. However, the timing was off and he was unable to act again until he was just below the ledge.
As he attempted to recover by having the little spinning swordfighter outstretch his Koriki sword, he faced his opponent to try to snipe a kill.
The last audio heard from him was “Power Dunk!”
An extreme close-up of the finishing blow and the booming crowd attracted eyes to the stream station.
GAME!
“Good games!"
A raging sigh came from PawnKing who made no eye contact with Fay and tapped her fist. “Terry’s fucking bullshit!”
Ignoring his comments, her dimples glowed brightly as Jackson and his brother embraced her.
“Lessgo Fay! You’re so good at everything!”
“Congrats!”
“This is fun! I love seeing people get mad!” The athlete chuckled before stepping to the main desk.
9:13 pm
At Parkside, Allyson and Julia were watching a movie while clanking a glass of white wine and a box from Pizza Kingdom. The film reached its end.
“Damn, I can’t believe it happened like that,” the artist doused her remaining glass.
“The message was pretty depressing. That creepy smile though…”
“I wasn’t expecting it at all. It’s rare to see the bad guy win.”
“Or how the past comes back haunting you no matter what.”
“Kinda hurts, too.”
“What you mean?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Just thinking about when I worked for Cree is all.”
“You sure it’s okay?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Julia got another box and poured another glass. All gone in one gulp. “Should we do another movie?”
“Hmm, we could,” Allyson scrolled through her phone and saw a Discord message from Michael.
WanderingFramer: Hey Allyson! Want to play some Spellbreak?
StellerEi: Yeah! Let’s play some games!
“Hey, so Michael and I are gonna play some Spellbreak.”
“Cool! Are you guys going to be on VC?”
“Hmm, let me ask him.”
StellerEi: Wanna do VC? Julia wants to join just to talk
WanderingFramer: Sure! I will join in a bit
StellerEi: Gonna move my setup to the living room. I’ll join VC soon
🔉 Convention Center
StellerEi: Hey!
WanderingFramer: Hey guys, can you hear me?
StellerEi: Yep!
Jewels: Heyyyy! We can hear you loud and clear!
WanderingFramer: I’ll make a lobby and I’ll wait when you show up
StellerEi: Cool! Almost there and lemme customize my character
Jewels: I don’t know anything about this Spellbreak game so you guys gonna have to explain to me… by watching you guys play
StellerEi: Watch us cook all these randos
They lost every game that night.