"Excuse me, is this the Cssmancers club?" A tall boy ehe basement, followed by two other boys who were just as big. They didn't look like middle schoolers. Maybe high schoolers?

  "Yeah, who's asking?" Kai frohe unfamiliar invaders.

  "Hey, what's up?" A different boy fshed his teeth toward Kai. "We came to che our wild juniors. Heard they wound up here."

  "Yo, Trever!" Lars jumped. "What's up, dude!? Haven't seen ya in ages!"

  "Same here," Trever bumped fists with Lars. "I see ya two are still brats as always."

  "Hey, we're already sed-year, yo! Totally adults and all that."

  "Haha, yeah, right. Y'all just a bunch of kids for me." Trever raffled Lar’s hair like an older brother in trol of the situation. It was quite the feat. Not many could stand their ground like that against Lars.

  Wait, Aron and Trever? Yuel blinked in fusion.

  "Long time no see," Aron strode through the room and stretched a hand toward Yuel.

  "Yeah..." Yuel accepted the handshake. Ugh, he's sure gripping it. Yuel tried to maintain a smile but he didn't enjoy this greeting eve. There was something behind it. Aron's eyes pierced Yuel from above like those of a hawk.

  There was anuy with them, a familiar face. Who was that, again?

  "That's Alex," Aron introduced. "You may remember him as Freezer. You fought him in the scrimmage with the Leopards."

  "Right," Yuel nodded. He vaguely remembered that pyer. Freezer was a strong Warlock pyer who fared poorly as aromancer, which suggested he might have been a orick pony. That's about all the iion Yuel had with the guy.

  "He's with us, fighting honorably for the Knights!" Trever added.

  "Oh, sick!" Lars excimed. "It's like old rivals join hands to form the ultimate team!"

  "Right? Right!?" Trever nodded repeatedly.

  "So," Kai turo Yuel. “Who are these guys?”

  "Ha!" Vi pulled out his tablet. "Let me educate you, o lost mb!"

  "Who's a lost mb?" Kai jabbed.

  "Geh. Anyway, behold! The power of my Information Bckhole!" Vi flipped through the data on his tablet. "First, I present you Frown, the Late-Game Terminator! He's the former leader of StormBlitz!"

  "They're from StormBlitz?" Kai frowned. "So, spies?"

  "o worry," Aron assured. "We've already graduated so we're not associated with StormBlitz."

  "Nothing stops you from feeding them information," Kai gave him a look.

  "True," Aroed calmly. "That is, if there's anything worthwhile to even say about this team.”

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "Nothing," Aron gnced away.

  "May I tihe presentation?" Vi asked.

  "Yeah, go on, kid," Trever nodded. "Tell 'em all about how awesome I am!"

  "Alrighty. In this er, we got Wild Dragon, the Momentum Surfer!" Vi presented with his hand. "He's the same year as Frown. He didn't get to py on the main team st year, but he performed splendidly on the sed string against the Leopards! At least, for the most part."

  "ow. What's that 'for the most part' crap supposed to mean?" Trever ed his arm around Vi's shoulder in a (not really) friendly gesture. "Got something to tell me, eh?"

  "A-Ahaha, my apologies," Vi was quick to back away. "Wild Dragon was also the captain of the sed-string and the team prevailed against the Leopards' hard-boiled sed string! It was quite a sight to behold!"

  "Yeah, that's more like it!" Trever grinned and smacked Vi on the back, this time with a friendly iion. Probably.

  "Guh! I-I'm gd the presentation was to your liking," Vi almost tripped from the impact but found his footing i moment.

  Did these "friendly gestures" of his level up? Yuel broke out in cold sweat. His back started to ache in memory of all the "friendly smacks" he received over the st year.

  It was like this: "Good job, kid!" Smack. "Nice call there, kid!" Smack! "We did it, kid!" SMACK.

  Brrr. Yuel shuddered and naturally backed away from Trever.

  "And, for our st guest," Vi scrolled for a few moments on his tablet. His expression grew visually nervous. "Ahem, from the Leopards, you said? Let's see... ht! Of course! He is her than Freezer! He pyed on the Leopards' sed string st year and performed splendidly as... Um, let's see," Vi sed the tablet quickly. "Right, as a Warlock! He aided his teammates in team fights and all that!"

  "Such a forced introdu," Alex rolled his eyes. "Just admit I didn't leave much of an impression and move on."

  "Ah, no, no!" Vi was quick to object for no reason. "It just slipped my mind for a moment, that’s all."

  "It's fine," Alex said. "I know I pyed like a total noob back there. Mark my word, it won't happen again."

  "Yes, of course! I believe in you!" Vi kept hamming it, most likely to cover up for the pretty obvious fact he barely remembered anything about Freezer.

  "That's an impressive rundown," Aron ented and turo Yuel. "What's up with that guy?"

  "You could say he's a fanboy, I guess," Yuel had no idea how to describe it better. "He watched our scrimmage st year and jotted down some notes."

  "Is that so. Impressive."

  "Oh, you like my Information Bckhole?" Viuro Aron like aed kid. "It has the powers to unveil all the secrets of this world!"

  "If you say so," Aron subtly shot down Vi's theatrics.

  Slick. Yuel thought. I better take a page or two from Vi's book.

  "Alright, I get the picture," Kai said. "So, we’re being visited by three petitive high-schoolers. What's the occasion?"

  "Straight to the point, aren’t we? I like it," Aron nodded in approval. "We came to che our foolish juniors." He g Lars for a moment, then gave Yuel a long judging look.

  "Foolish"? Yuel gulped. Had a feeling this wasly a “friendly visit”...

  The fact Aron was here, in this rundown clubroom, meant he knew everything. He knew how Yuel abandoned his responsibilities as StormBlitz's vice-captain aed to this godforsaken basement club. There was no ce Aron will think favorably of this decision.

  "Imagine my surprise," Aron tinued. "I aying a visit to the club I left in your and Howard's care, only to discover you were no lohere. Instead, you transferred to aeam and Gregory was assigned vice-captain."

  So, Hoicked Gregory. Yuel sighed. It was indeed an unfortuurn of events for StormBlitz. On paper, Gregory had the skills to be a det vice-captain. However, as for his attitude...

  "I just had to firm it for myself," Aron approached Yuel and towered over him. Gulp. "Did you really transfer here just because you didn't get a spot on the first-string?"

  "Y-Yes. We didn't want to warm the bench for another-"

  "Foolish," Aron frowned. "Holy, I'm disappointed. I expected more from you. I thought you had a head on your shoulders."

  "Well, I..." Yuel caved in. He expected something to this effect but Aron's words were harsh beyond measure. Deep down, Yuel knew how extreme, borderliupid, their transfer was. But, he wao believe it was the right choice. He really did...

  "You were already a vice-captain on a strong team," Aron tinued. "You only had to wait one year before you could bee its captain and py on the first string."

  "Yeah..."

  "I was hoping to see y the team all the way to the finals and finally destroy the Leopards' uable record. Instead, you threw everything away and abandoned your responsibilities. For what?"

  "I..." Yuel lowered his head. He didn't have a retort for any of this. Truly, if taken at face value, his as were beyond asinine. Agreeing to areme idea like transferring schools was very mulike him.

  But, he and Lars had their vis. They had their reasons foing through with this idea; reasons that Aron won't be able to prehend.

  "Hey," Lars ed an arm around Yuel's shoulder and gri Aron. "o be so harsh on my dude. I'm the one who came up with this idea."

  "You?" Aron frowned. "Actually, why am I surprised. Only a fool would think of pulling something dumb like that."

  "Ouch, haha," Lars ughed. "Ya just don't uand my brilliant idea, yo!"

  "Brilliant, you say?"

  "Yeah, it's da best! We joined an underdog team and we gon all the top dogs! It gonna be like in the movies, yo!"

  "Hey, sounds rad!" Trever chuckled. "It's like 'the team that gonna ge the town forever’ and shit!"

  "Yep, totally!"

  "Haha, you two are mad ds, I'm tellin' ya."

  "I wasn’t aware we came here to ence them," Aron shot a gre at Trever.

  "O-Oh, haha," Trever scratched his head with an awkward grin. "Right, so, bad decision, you two. Shouldn't have tried pying the heroes and all that." Despite saying so, he snu a pyful wink for Lars.

  "I don't uand the point behind this gig," Aron tinued. "I know you and Hot some rivalry going on, but what is this transfer supposed to prove, exactly?" He looked around the basement clubroom and grimaced. "You left one of the best teams in the region to join... this. A team that has never passed the first round at the regionals and is tucked away in the basement in shame. art of this idea is 'brilliant'?"

  "Yes, I know all that," Yuel put away Lars's encing hand. "Thanks. I'll be fine." He whispered.

  Yuel took a deep breath and ched his fists. He couldn't hide behind Lars here. He had to stand his ground against Aron on his own. Otherwise, he might really start regretting this decision.

  "I admit, this was a huge gamble," Yuel said. "As you say, I had an important position on one of the best teams in the region. And, I abandoned all of that to defect to a low tier team that's infamous for losing. It does sound rather absurd, doesn't it?"

  "It does indeed," Aron nodded. "I expected more from you. I thought you were a realist. Do you really believe you take on Howard's StormBlitz with this team?"

  "Yes, I do," Yuel met Aron's pierg gaze without fling. "I'm well aware it'll be an uphill battle, but I believe this team has what it takes to beat Howard's StormBlitz. This year, Stratus got Lars and me. And, there are two petent seniors as well." He presented Kai and Vi.

  "Oh?" Aron raised a questioning brow.

  "As you saw, Vi here is great at colleg intel and figuring out pyers' specialties. Why do you think he called you a 'Late-Game Terminator'?"

  "Hm, I see," Aron nodded in approval. Truly, it was impressive that a random kid he never pyed against knew about Aron's strong te-game. He had to give credit where credit was due.

  "And, our captain, Kai, is also an impressive pyer," Yuel tinued. "She got solid fuals and she's great at adapting to her oppos. Fight her long enough and she'll learn to dodge everything you throw her way."

  "Is that so," Aron was at a loss. Is this really the same Yuel...?

  "The other juniors..." Yuel paused. Well, one is a memer and the other skips practice half of the time, but... "They're serious about the game and improve every day. I'm sure that by the time the tour es, they'll be on par with pyers from the best teams in the region." At least, I hope so.

  "Hm, I see," Aron pursed his lips.

  "And, there's our promising freshman," Yuel presented Nia, who was sitting in the er like a kitten hiding from unfamiliar humans.

  "Who?" Aron looked puzzled for a moment. "Oh, that girl over there."

  "If she keeps developialent, she might bee one of the pyers to look out for this year."

  "Hm," Aron didn't retort to Yuel's bold statements. How could he even say anything? All of this came out of left field. To think that Yuel, of all people, would...

  "Wow, is this real life?" Vi blinked. "Did Chessmaster actually just praise all of us?"

  "So it seems..." Kai was at a loss for a moment as well.

  "Bro totally vouched for all of us like a champ!" Luke gave a thumbs up. "Don't worry, man. I got your back covered this year!"

  "Me too," Ben mumbled with a smile.

  "Ya showed 'em, dude!" Lars smacked Yuel on the back. "How ya like that, Aroally gonna take the regionals this year!"

  "You seriously believe all this nonsense?" Aron asked.

  "Yes, I do," Yuel affirmed.

  "Iing. Then, how about you show me how strong your team really is? There are three of us here, so how about we hold a little 3v3 to see if you're as good as you cim to be?" That should wake you up from your daydreaming.

  DarkestCymore