Lucy's p.o.v

Ugh, my back hurts. I should not have slept on a couch, a second night in a row. I looked at the time. It was already pretty late.

I drank a coffee in a hurry, and headed directly to Ace's house. Today we had another competition and I had to make sure he snaps back to normal.

Once there, I found him in the kitchen, snacking on some candy, while piling up candy wraps.

Damn it. Not even separating him from that painting worked.

"Don't forget we have the competition today."

"Mhmmm."

"You studied right?"

He let out a long sigh. "Yes."

"And you're ready?"

"Yesss."

"Francy spoke to Sole yesterday."

Ace dropped the candy he was about to eat.

Kai came into the kitchen to refill his coffee mug. He went to the pot and poured some.

"What did Sole say?" Ace asked.

"Hey Kai, how are you." I took a sit on one of the bar chairs next to the counter.

Kai turned around. "I'm great. Want some coffee?"

"Yep, that would be great."

Yo!" Ace threw a candy at me, hitting my shoulder.

Kai handed me the mug.

"Thanks."

"Am I a wall here?" Ace picked up another candy with a threatening look.

"It's a lovely day, isn't it." I told Kai, barely holding in my laugh.

Ace let out a long impatient sigh.

"Oh right." I turned towards Ace. "Francy said she talked to Sole and apparently she can't focus on anything either. Francy suspects she likes you too but refuses to talk about it."

Ace smiled. "Really?" He then went serious. "You're not fucking with me are you?"

"Cross my heart." I grinned.

Ace dropped back on the chair, staring into nothing with a smile on his face.

Suddenly we heard the front door open and there were grunts coming from the living room.

"Are mom and dad supposed to be back yet?" Ace asked Kai and he just shrugged.

We dropped everything and went into the living room.

Rehan was dragging two suitcases that were so huge I wonder how he got them through the door. He had gotten taller just in few months.

He stopped pulling when he saw us and flashed us a smile. "Wanna help?"

Ace ran over in a second and jumped over him. "Where have you been?" He hugged him, hitting his back and ruffling his hair. "My little brother is back."

Rehan hugged him back happily.

Kai walked over and tried to open one of the suitcases on the ground. Rehan slammed a foot over it.

"Not that one."

"What about my souvenirs?" Kai asked with a scowl.

Rehan tossed his body over him, hugging him. "I've missed your grumpy face."

While struggling on the ground with Kai he put his hand out. "Lucyyyy. I missed you..uuh.."He struggled with Kai and tried putting a arm out.

"Welcome back." I smiled and greeted him before Kai put a choke-hold on him and they continued rolling on the ground.

"Why didn't you say you were coming today. We would have picked you up from the airport." Ace eventually pulled him up and wrapped an arm around him again.

"Until the last moment I didn't know if I would catch the plane. Didn't want to tell mom and dad and then not be able to make it."

"Ugh..you have so much talking to do." He dragged him to the couch. "Let's catch up."

I looked at the time. Well, we had time until the competition.

***

The gaming hall was crowded more than the last time. Given there were three rounds to go I could only imagine what the finale was going to look like. Behind me and Ace, Kai and Rehan were walking carrying popcorn and looking around. Rehan insisted to come along and Kai got dragged in it, but now that he was here, he seemed entertained more than ever.

The competition was now at its peak. They had brought stalls with food, drinks and other merch that might bring in cash..

I stopped at our usual spot, waiting for Halo. I texted her, but she immediately wrote that she'll be here. She suddenly showed up with a cup of soda and she glanced at Rehan and Kai.

Rehan waved at her, while Kai looked at the soda. " Now I want one."

"Strategists?" She asked me.

"Nope." Ace got in between them and put an arm around both Kai and Rehan. "They're my little brothers."

She blinked for a second completely confused and then she put her hand out greeting them.

Ace pulled Rehan and Kai to move. "Come on. I'll buy you a soda."

"They're....but they're..." Halo was still confused.

"Adopted." I answered seeing how shocked she was.

Her eyes widened in shock and she was ready to ask something else but I just waved my hand. "I'm telling you this, so you don't ask them about it later. They don't like talking about it. It's a very private thing for them."

She pushed her hair behind. "Oh, okay."

"You're ready for today?" I asked. She didn't have another fight with her brother did she?

She seemed relaxed . "I'm always ready."

Perfect. That's what I liked to hear.

Suddenly I saw the same kid I saw last time. He was with an older guy in a suit. Seriously .. people brought their kids here?

The shirt the kid wore was so familiar. Whose merch was that?

"Hey hey..." Rehan ran back over holding up a shirt in his arms.

Kai and Ace were right behind him. Kai held a whole bunch of new snacks in his arms and a soda.

"They were printing shirts and I got us each." Rehan said and handed Halo and I one.

Halo scowled as she took the shirt. She unwrapped it on the spot and then to my surprise she cackled.

She looked at Rehan. "I like your style."

***

Ten minutes later, we headed to our computers wearing the shirts Rehan bought. I was against it, but ended up being maneuvered into wearing it.

The shirts had a large bold print saying.

SECOND PLACE IS FOR LOSERS

I hated to say it, but it caused a commotion. The other players were visibly irked and sending us glares while the fans in the crowd were cheering us on.

It was a strategic provocation, alright. If this would get other gamers off their game, we'd have no problem scoring first place.

The sound went off.

BEEP.

The game had started. Halo was on a roll, scoring in the game and running through it faster than ever.

Everyone was on edge.

Someone tried to hack our system, but Ace was quick to shut it down. Guess he really did some studying. He knew which one of my codes to use in a matter of seconds.

Another hacker managed to get past our defenses, but Ace used it to our advantage.

"Oooooh. Big mistake." Ace laughed. "Maybe you should pay more attention to your work because I just hacked in."

The hacker instantly focused on his screen, but it was too late. Ace had turned off their entire system and shut off the player from the game.

The hacker, his player and strategists got up mad but before they could do something, security showed up and scooped them out like trash.

Guess giving Ace all that study material paid off.

The crowd went wild cheering on us.

The game went on. I heard remarks from other strategists, Halo got a bunch of them for being a girl, but it was useless. We were so solid and had iced out everyone.

Even Kai and Rehan were now focused on Halo's gameplay as she was nearing the final boss.

We were all on edge. She started battling the final boss using every move she could think of.

"Just die already." She kept hitting the keyboard. "Why won't you die."

She suddenly pulled her character back thinking.

"What happened?" Kai asked.

"Wait..just wait..." She was thinking her eyes scanning the screen.

She opened her weaponry and started laughing. "I'm stupid. I've played games like this before. I should have thought of this sooner."

She brought her character up on the hill and switched her toughest weapon for a machete.

"You have to do it executioner style." She jumped from the cliff wielding the machete and cut off the head of the final boss.

The winner's horn on the board went off.

BEEP!BEEP! BEEP!

She won first place.

"Take that!" She got up laughing and flashed the rest players her shirt. "What was that? You're not first place? Sorry, I couldn't hear cause I was winning."

One hacker flipped her off.

The guy who was a host for the competition approached her. "If you keep up that score, there will be a bonus for you at the end of the next game."

She screamed out of joy and then turned around, tossing herself over me in a hug.

I remained frozen, unsure how to respond. This was...weird. She didn't go to hug Ace.

Before I had the chance, the other players won quickly after that and the board results went up. There was one player who was dangerously close.

Halo pulled away and turned towards the board. "I'm not giving up that money."

The crowd was cheering us on. It was so noisy and crowded and the music was loud again.

I sunk back in the chair. Just two more games and we're done.

*******

I dropped down on the couch in the Devil's den and closed my eyes for a second. The headache was huge. I just needed the quiet for a moment.

"I SAID I'M NOT GOING HOME." Halo yelled at the phone, presumably arguing with her brother again and looked down at me. "I'm going to game here tonight. I can't work with that idiot in the house and his smoke buddies. I have to get ready for the next game and he decided to bring over his annoying nosy friends."

I pointed at the laptop, hoping she'll stay quiet.

The door slammed open again and Ace came in together with Kai and Rehan carrying shit they bought to celebrate another competition win.

They were all so hyped and in a party mood, there was nothing I could do to stop it.

After winning another first place in the competition, I was sure there was no way anyone could beat us in the remaining two games.

I tried to think of the day I can focus on my games again. This was getting exhausting. Working on my games while we were in the championships was much more fun. I loved working with the illustrators, coming up with new characters, the settings, talking to fans and hearing what they loved about the game... I wanted to go back to that.

Damn it, why was it so hard to think ?? I glanced up.

They were so noisy trying to open the bag and get the snacks out.

"Can you guys keep it down?" I asked, covering my eyes with a pillow.

The noise continued. Kai and Rehan were arguing over a snack while Halo was asking Ace something about my laptop. My phone suddenly buzzed in my pocket. I shoved my hand in my pocket trying to get it out until the ringing pierced my head.

"Hello?" I answered.

A mature female voice spoke on the other side of the line. "Hello, am I speaking to Elric from "Game Enterprise.""

"Yes.."

It was getting louder in the room.

I want those chips. I haven't had them in months.

Sucks to be you.

How do I log in?

"I'm calling from the world game..."

"Just a moment please. Stay on the line." I told her and muted the line.

I rose on my elbows and took a breath. "WILL YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP!"

It was a loud and clear warning.

Everyone dropped what they were doing and made no sudden moves.

I unmuted the line and brought the phone back to my ear. "Continue please.."

"Like I said, I'm calling as a representative from the Game development world championship. After careful consideration and detailed research from our side, we had concluded that your game was not plagiarized and we would like to reinstate you in the competition. I spoke with your lawyer as well. We would like to offer you compensation for the stressful weeks.."

"Compensation? You wasted our precious time on baseless claims." I said a bit insulted that she thought this was going to be that easy.

"I understand."

"I don't think you do. We were just cut off from.."

Ace suddenly grabbed my phone from me. "Hi, this is Ace from Game Enterprise. Tell me more about those compensations.."

I dropped back on the pillow and covered my eyes with my hand. I was really not in the mood for jokes. This was my life on the line and they just thought they could....

I heard Ace explaining everything to the woman and he tossed me back my phone.

"We are reinstated and we accept their compensation." He said pointing a finger at me.

"We got reinstated! Be happy for it for it."

I was about to complain when he waved his hand uninterested. "I don't want to hear whining. They did what they did to us, but we are going to shut up and take what we can from them. We need them. I know you miss working on the game, but for now, focus on revenge. We'll get that once we find the hacker."

I realized Halo was here too. A bit panicked she might have heard us I looked at her, but luckily she had placed headphones on and started gaming.

That was close. We almost got caught.

But Ace was right. This needed to be a happy moment. A triumph.

We needed to use them. At least we were back in the game.

As for revenge. I was going to get that the moment I get my hands on that hacker.