Carry: Kai (Beat)

  Support: Vi (InformationBckhole)

  Mid: Lars (Gunz)

  Top: Yuel (Chessmaster)

  Jungler: Nia (VanishingFlower)

  "Say what?" Luke raised an eyebrow. "I think you somehow got my name mixed up with Nia’s, haha."

  "Nope," Kai answered matter-of-factly. "For this scrimmage, Nia will py Jungler first. You'll be a sub."

  "Wha..." Luke blinked and gave her a funny look. Heh. Hah. Haha! This was the joke of the year, that's for sure. "You really gonhis newbie py instead of me? Are you for real right now?" He gave Nia a look... Or, at least, he po do so. But, he couldn't find her anywhere. The girl was uhe table a moment ago, but she vanished without a trace. Goddammit, this stupid ugly vanishing bit-

  Nah, calm down. o get mad. Luke took a deep breath. This is just a joke. Kai is just pulling my leg. And, if by any ce she's serious about this shit, everybody else gonna side with me anyways. Everybody see she’s clearly pying favorites for a fellow girl. Captain or not, ain't nobody gonhat shit pass.

  "I'm serious," Kai said. "It was the most difficult decision of the lineup, but that's how it’s going to be."

  "Hey, everybody, are ya hearing this nonsense?” Luke produced a dry ugh. "She's pying favorites for Nia again."

  "No, she's not," Yuel said. "I'd also like Nia to py Jungler. We discussed it thhly and agreed on this."

  "Hah, you did," Luke twitched. "Okay, then what about everybody else? Any of you think Nia should be the Jungler?"

  "Don't worry, dude," Lars patted Luke's shoulder. "You're an awesome Jungler. I’m sure ya still gono py some matches. Just show 'em what ya got during the scrimmage and they gonna pick ya ime for sure!"

  "That's right," Yuel followed up. "Scrimmages are great opportunities for us to test team lineups. At the moment, Kai and I agree that Nia should be the Jungler. But, that may ge depending on how the scrimmages py out. Nothing is set in sto."

  "In other words," Vi made noise. "Our Jedi Knight must overe a trial to bee a Jedi Master!"

  "You guys are all so serious here," Luke smiled wryly. What a naive fool he was. All this time, he believed his Jungler spot was secured. After all, his only petition was some greenhorn freshman girl. He had this one in the bag. Ez.

  Except, he totally didn't. This year, Stratus gonna be a serious team uhe world has seen before. It was filled to the brim with tryhard energy and everybody was legit aiming for the top. They were serious when they were talking about taking the regionals.

  This ain't what I signed up for. Luke thought. The Stratus he knew was a id-back team that cared firstmost about having fun. But, that only applied st year. This year, they became tryhards all of a sudden with powerhouses from StormBlitz joining them out of nowhere.

  "Welp, alrighty then," Luke shrugged. "Less work for me then. Am I, like, excused from the scrimmage?"

  "Definitely not," Yuel answered. "As I said, we’ll be using the scrimmages f different things out. I’d like to see how you perform in a petitive enviro as well. Aside from your meme picks, you are a good pyer. So, you might surprise and prove that your memes hold up in that enviro."

  "So, it all es down to whether I get shit doh my picks, heh," Luke smirked. "Alrighty, ya got it. Give me just one shot, that’s all I need. I'll prove you my memes got what it takes. I'mma take the world by storm! All these meta sves gonna feel like scrubs after I mop the floor with their uninal picks, heh."

  "Yes, use the Meme Force!" Vi hyped it up. "Fight on, Luke Memewalker!"

  But seriously, I SO didn't sign up for this shit. Luke turned away and spat a sigh. This was supposed to be an easy-going club. Cssmancers was just a game for him to meme i, somehow, he found himself in a situation where he had to prove his skill to everybody. How did things even e to this? I bme Yuel’s tryhard aura. Sigh.

  Welp, in for a penny, in for a pound. Luke signed up for this, so he might as well try to do what he could. As long as it doesn’t bee a total pain in the arse, he’ll keep trying to improve his legendary memeing skills and aim for that spot on the first-string.

  After all, tours were cool and he never got to participate in any. Somebody like him, with average skill at best in every field, never had the opportunity to stand out from the rest. But, with Cssmancers it ossible. The opportunity was right there, right in front of him. He just had to reach out a little harder to grab it.

  Welp, I'll just keep doing my thing and hope it works. Luke cluded. W hard ain in the arse, but he art of this club, so he better do what he . Tryhards or not, he had pals in this club. So, if he help them win without sacrifig mu the process, he'll do it.

  "So yeah, grats on the role and all," Luke addressed Nia, wherever she was. "But, ya better watch out! This memer is right behind ya, ready to take the role back!"

  "Y-You have it..." A weak voice resounded from somewhere.

  "Say what?"

  “I-I’ll be fihout it. I give it to you for free. That’s how generous I am.”

  “The heck are you even at?” Luke looked uhe table, behind the table, and over the table. There was no trace of the phantom.

  “She’s over there,” Yuel poi the cardboard box sitting at the er of the room.

  “Where? Behind it?” Luke checked behind the box from every possible angle. “Don’t see anything.”

  “She’s inside.”

  “Wha-!? You gotta be pulling my leg... or not.” Luke opehe box and found a pile of bck hair inside. Suddenly, the hair floated right in front of him! “Jesus almighty! This ain’t no horror movie here, girl!”

  “What are you even doing there?” Kai made a face. “e over here.”

  “Bully,” Nia pouted and gave Yuel a look, bming him for exposing one of her best hiding spots. Was it even impossible to beat this ESPer at hide-and-seek? Did Yuel pce a bug on her so he could track her anywhere and everywhere!? She better tact the police...

  “What’s wrong?” Kai asked. “You should be happy about being picked.”

  “I-I’m fihout it, thank you,” Nia nervously gnced aside.

  “Huh? Why?” Kai blinked. “You’ve been practig so hard all this time. You telling me you weren’t trying to bee part of the main team?”

  “Um, no really?” Nia cmmed up. Judging by everybody’s looks, something about her words struck them as odd. But, why? Should I make a run for it? The door is open. I break through before anybody notices...! Yeah, right.

  Even Nia didn’t have the mastery to slip away unnoticed while so many eyes were locked on her. Well, probably. Who knew? Maybe it’ll work. 3, 2, 1... GO!

  “Hold it right there, young dy,” Yuel said.

  “Guh! I only took oep...”

  “I’ve seen you slip away enough times to know where it was going.”

  “Gufu...” Nia puffed her cheeks. Out of all the oppos Nia has ever faced, Yuel roving to be the toughest. Perhaps he was the final boss of her eealth career!

  “So, let me get this straight,” Kai tinued. “You’ve been w your ass off in training and all, but you don’t even want to py petitively?”

  “I rather not,” Nia answered. “It’s scary.”

  "What's so scary about it?"

  "Everything. You py on a stage. Everybody is watg. It gonna he uploaded to YouTube too. People gonna ugh at your mispys. Scary."

  "Upload to YouTube?" Kai raised a brow. "You’re overestimating this petitive se. Some matches get uploaded, but it’s usually only the best teams. And, even though there's an audie's not that big."

  "But, it's still there, right?"

  "I don't think anybody gonna e waty of our matches. At least, not until they realize we're a team to watch out for this year."

  "But, at some point, they’ll e and judge everything I do. Scary."

  "Stage fright, huh." Kai scratched her head. This is a problem. Maybe we’ll have to use Luke after all.

  "Don't worry, dude," Lars fshed his teeth. "Everybody's nervous on their first time. You get used to it. Before long, ya gonna bee addicted to that pressure. You gonna start going to tours just to show people how good ya are!"

  "Not everybody is like you," Yuel retorted. "Some people have stage fright." Especially, a girl who always hides from everybody, even from her clubmates. Sigh.

  "It ain't just about me," Lars said. "I've seen a bunch of dudes in the basketball club who were scared shitless of pying at the regionals and stuff. But, ohey got into it, there was no stopping them anymore! Stuff just works, yo!"

  "I agree that the best way to get used to something is to repeat it multiple times,” Yuel said. “But, the first time is always the hardest."

  "Just gotta shoot for it, yo!"

  "If it was that easy, we wouldn't be having this versation..."

  The room fell quiet. Nobody had an immediate solution to Nia's stage fight problem. For a scaredy-cat like her, the mere mention of a stage with an audieerrified her to the core. The mere possibility that some people will e to watch the scrimmage was horrifying. Frankly, this problem robably beyond Yuel's powers.

  "So, um," Nia spoke up sheepishly. "I think Luke should do it. He's a good Jungler. Number one memer. beat anybody ez. Yeah."

  Heh, I’ve never heard praising that sounded more forced than this. Luke chuckled. What's with this chick? First she takes away my role, and now she's pleading to give it back. What a troublemaker.

  Welp, it suddenly became easy for Like to get his Jungler role back. He could just nod to Nia's fake praise and that'll probably seal the deals. Everybody else was at a larding Nia's problem, so they'll probably give up and surrehe role to Luke.

  Let's be real, I'm the better pyer anyway. Luke wasn't trying to boast or anything, it was a simple faia was an alright pyer and she has been improving, but she was still a greenhorn pared to Luke. It wasn’t really her fault; everybody started out as total scrubs during the first year. Nia still had a lot of room frowth, but no substantial growth ever happens in a matter of days. It’d take months for her to get anywhere near Luke’s level, if not years.

  With enough time, this weird girl might bee a better pyer than Luke. She has been training way more hours than him every day and all that jazz.

  However, at this very moment? Luke was a league above her. It wasn’t even a petition. Surely, even Yuel would agree with this assessment if he could put aside the meme issue for a sed.

  So, for all is and purposes, Luke should be the one pying in the uping scrimmage. And, in the scrimmage after that. And, in the regionals as well. Luke was Stratus's Jungler, no question.

  A, Yuel and Kai unanimously voted for Nia over Luke. It was rare as heck for those two to agree on something like that. It's like Hell and Heaven making a truce or some spooky shit.

  I'm sure they also know I'm the better pyer, so they probably have their reasons. Luke reasoned. Most likely, they wao see Nia in a a how effit her sneaking tech gonna prove in srs bsns matches. If it works against high-level oppos, it'll be a riot. And, if it blows, they always fall back to using Luke. Ez optio.

  In a way, Nia's refusal to py could be seen as an early failure. The girl bailed out before the matches even started, that's all there was to it. Luke was the backup pn all along, so he could just step in and assume his role as intended.

  And, I'm fih that shit? Really? Luke smiled wryly. It’s like winning because your oppo defaulted. If he gets his role back like this, it ain't gonna prove anything. Everybody still gonna think that Nia was the better pyer and that Luke's memes were poop.

  Welp, it's ain't like I gotta prove anything to anybody. Indeed, he didn't join the club to bee number one or any such tryhard nonsehat hassle wasn't for him, it ointless. No matter how hard one worked to get to the top, there was always somebody standing higher above. So, like, why even bother?

  In the first pce, that's kinda the reason Luke jumped on the opportunity to join this club. It was about pying a video game and the team was zy, so he thought he wouldn’t have to get too serious about any of it. At least, that's how it should've went...

  “We gonna take the regionals this year!” That’s the kind of nonsehese daydreamers have been saying. It was hel dumb. There was no ce this tiny team stood any ce against all the powerhouses out there.

  A, somewhere deep iheir determination touched him. What if this crappy team really makes it to the top? What if its hard work will pay off in the end? Maybe, just maybe, they could go pces if they trained hard enough. Lars and Yuel were two tys and Kai wasn't too shabby either, so the team had some aces for sure. Maybe reag the nationals wasn’t just a dream.

  Unbeknown to any of them, Luke has been deepening his research of the memeing arts retly. He couldn’t be assed to stay for long training hours in this basement clubroom, but that didn't mean he was doh Cssmahe moment he left, far from it.

  After ing home aing lunch, he dug up lots of memeing. info online. He also watched some top-level memers aed iing iions.

  Hasta vista, tryhards! That's what he imagined shouting in his oppos’ faces after mopping the floor with them. They'll never see it ing! Memes will reign supreme!

  Something small like tier lists won't stop him! And, something as small as stage fright shouldn't stop her. If she loses against something silly like that, that'll be a real shame.

  On the surfaia didn’t seem particurly ied in hitting it big in the petitive se. But, just like Luke, she probably wao try her hand at some high-level matches and do well on the petitive stage. That’ll give them a cool story t about. “Hey, listen! I was in this oour and I whooped some ass!” Stuff like that.

  Therefore, Nia should go for it. She shouldn't bail out using a weak excuse like stage fright. Dodging the serious stuff was Luke’s job around here, he didn’t appreciate others walking on his turf.

  Welp, I ain't gonna go out on a limb for her here. Luke shrugged. But, guess I'll say what I . I gonhe role either way in the end.

  "Hey, Nia," Luke started. "You should give the tour a shot. o worry if you mess up or anything. You got a reliable sub, don't fet that. If ya 't ha, I'll just step in to repce you. Ezpz solution, zero pressure."

  "Ah, right," Nia's eyes opened wide. She didn't even think about it. Right, I dump everything on Luke and slip away if I 't take it anymore. Yeah, ez.

  It sounded a little mean, but not really. Luke looked like a guy who could handle himself. So, Nia will try going far as she , then bail out if things get rough.

  In truth, she wao try her hand at the petitive se. It ce where everybody pyed like crazy, right? There were definitely going to be a bunch of bullies out there, but the matches will be iing. Nia will get a ce to sneak up on difficult targets and assassihem. It'll be fun. Probably.

  "I-I'll try it," Nia decided. "I'll try to py and see how it goes."

  "Great," Kai smiled. "So, we're settled then."

  Nia sheepily turo Luke. "T-Thanks."

  "Don't sweat it," Luke scratched his cheek. Damn, why is it that when I impress a girl with my chad aura, it 't be some cutie? All we got in this club are a Bro Gril and a Ghost Chick. Life is harsh, man.

  With that, the lineup for the uping scrimmage was decided. Nia will start out as the Jungler and perhaps Luke will repce her ter. How long will she st? Will her stealth abilities work out? Everything to her mental fortitude, which wasly her forte...

  There was only o role left to decide, one which wasn’t tied to any specific position in the lineup. It was the shot-caller role. An optional position that not all teams had, but was highly reended fh levels of py.

  Often times, the captain was expected to be the shot-caller. It only made sehat the o the top would also issue global orders. However, in truth, the skillsets required for each role were rather different.

  Some had the aptitude to be both captain and shot-caller, like Howard. However, some only excelled iactical department and didn’t exhibit the necessary leadership. Yuel was one such example.

  Oher hand, Kai was a self-tered pyer who alushed her own agenda through, no matter who opposed her. It was the trait that allowed her to get to the top of the club, but also one which restricted her ability to take others into siderations. She firstmost cared about her own situation during the game, so she had little time and ability to follow the situations of other pyers.

  Therefore, Kai was the captain but not fit to be a shot-caller. She had the highest authority, but she couldn’t issue many global orders for others, unless it was something involving her owuation. Kai didn’t like to admit that, but she k was true. Therefore, she agreed to let Yuel be the shot-caller, on a dition.

  “If I don’t like your tactics, I’ll overrule them,” Kai stated. Being the shot-caller made it clear whose job it was to monitor others’ situations and give them helpful advice, but it was nothing more than that. Being a shot-caller didn’t give that pyer the ability to make all the decisions for the team.

  In short, she wants to stay in trol. Yuel smiled wryly. For Kai, being the captai something special, so she wasn’t going to promise on the bes that came with that role. Yuel will be like a dog on a leash, a leash that Kai had the authority to pull as she pleased in case he misbehaves.

  Fine by me. Yuel thought. Having absolute trol of the chessboard was great, but it was hard to mah roles at once. Yuel will focus oactid Kai will handle disputes and such. It should take a load off his mind.

  “I’ll be the shot-caller,” Yuel announced proudly to everybody. He expio them the gist of what the role entailed.

  “But,” Kai added. “If you have to choose between my word and Yuel’s, you know who to follht?” She gave each of them a serious look.

  “Yes, ma’am!” Vi saluted.

  “Yes, ma’am!” Luke joined in for the lulz.

  And so, the club meeting came to an end. The lineup and roles were all decided. From now on, the team just had to train, train, train some more until their first scrimmage. Their first oppoaurus!

  DarkestCymore