Chapter 12
Bros
CHARLOTTE
Neptune Hey, good-lookin
“It’s still me, quit hitting on me,” I reminded him over the mic.
“Dude, you being a chick is throwing me off,” he replied.
“Morning, Plut, how was your evening?” I cheerfully asked, noticing he
was also on.
“Ugggg,” Nep groaned.
“Too loud, Mars—whisper.”
“I take it someone is a little hung over?” I asked, a little quieter.
“GOOD MORNING!” Jup shouted as a large toad wearing a tiara
joined the game.
“AAAAAAAAAAH!” Nep yelled.
“What did I do?” Jup asked quickly.
“Nep’s hung over, and you should really learn to lock your computer,” I explained, laughing.
“Stupid sister! Sorry, Nep.” Jup logged out quickly and came back as his normal character.
“You aren’t normally hung over. Rough night?”
“Normally, I stick to beer. Last night we were doing body shots off some hot chicks, then I just did the chicks,” he explained, as usual with way too many Nep-like details.
“But am I the only one who got lucky last night? What about you, Jup?
Get some?”
Nep’s words made me snicker since I’d used those same words earlier, mimicking him.
“Nah. The party I went to was pretty lame,” Jup said.
“What about you, Mars?” Plut piped up.
I instantly cracked up laughing.
“Was that a serious question?”
“When we all get together in March, I’m declaring a teambuilding exercise to get Mars laid,” Nep commented.
“I already told him we’d be his wingmen and try to find him someone, since there are no hot guys at his new school,” Jup said.
“I didn’t say that,” I commented.
“I just didn’t actually answer when you asked before.”
“Does Mars have a crush?” Plut asked.
“What about Jup?” Nep added.
“Are you cheating on our fearless leader? I’m so sorry, Jup.”
“Dude!” Jup exclaimed.
“All jokes aside, really? Is there a guy you like, Mars?”
“I didn’t say I like him. I don’t know him. I just said he was hot. Like, really hot!”
“Well, did you talk to him?” Plut asked.
“I ran into him, literally, then almost passed out when he talked to me to see if I was okay.”
“He was concerned about you. That’s great, man. Maybe he’s into you
too,” Jup said.
“Doubtful,” I replied.
“Well, there’s always still the option to find someone when you come here, but I’m afraid I won’t be much help finding attractive males,” Plut commented.
“Yeah, and I’m not into dudes, sorry, Mars. You’ll have to settle for the second-best looking guy in the room instead of the best,” Nep said.
“That’s all right, Nep, I’m not into cocky players anyway,” I laughed.
“Jup, won’t you be jealous seeing your lover with someone else?” Nep asked.
“Okay, you guys are seriously taking this too far. I like chicks!” Jup said.
“But baby, why are you denying our love?” I teased.
“Ugh,” Jup groaned.
“Let’s just play.”
“What’s on the agenda today, fearless leader?” Nep asked with a salute.
“The first piece of the ticket is located at the top of a tower, here on the map,” he replied, pointing to a city east of us.
“From what I read, this area is flooded with enemy soldiers. We’d better take the long way to get there,” I said.
“Why?” Plut asked.
“There is a caravan here where we can trade mushroom dust for a sniper gun,” I replied.
“Makes sense; you suck when you aren’t sniping,” Nep said.
“Even without a sniper gun, he’s still a hundred times better than you,”
Jup snapped back.
“Thanks,” I said, loving that Jup always had my back. He wasn’t wrong, though. I was better with a sniper, but good even without one. When we played PVP, I was always the sniper.
With our game plan set, the four of us set off. Luckily, we had gained enough levels by now that the small mushrooms and other mobs near town didn’t attack us. This meant we could cover more distance quicker— without having to constantly stop and fight.
As we crossed the river into the bandit area, we noticed several bandits had a small human female cornered. It was pretty clear that she had no shot.
Oh well, she would respawn in the city and learn a valuable lesson about picking a fight with named mobs. She must have been a n00b not to know that any mob with a specific name—not a generic one—had infinitely
greater stats than the regular ones.
Neptune Have no fear, fair maiden. I shall protect you
Nep ran over to her.
“Nep, stop!” I yelled. Too late.
Nep had already attacked the mob boss before I could even finish getting the words out. The rest of us raced over to help. Plut and I started shooting the lower-level bandits, hoping to get rid of them so there was only the boss left. Jup went to help Nep, hoping to keep our teammate alive.
I hadn’t planned on fighting much with my current gun, so I had mainly packed sniper bullets and was already out of regular ones. I was in the middle of hitting a bandit with a stick I found on the ground when Nep yelled out, “NOOOOOOOOO!”
I looked over to see Nep throwing himself in front of the idiot girl. She lay on the ground, dead, with a knife sticking out of her chest—and Nep now had a different knife in his shoulder.
“Nep!” I yelled, racing over to block the boss who was about to kill him.
Having just defeated the last low-level bandit, Plut ran over to help us.
Together, Plut, Jup, and I were able to surround the boss. Nep somehow managed to pull the knife out of his own shoulder, and I grabbed it. It was way better than a stick. Between my knife skills and the guys’ guns, we were able to slowly lower the boss’s health. Finally, after a long and brutal battle, we defeated the boss.
“Why would you throw yourself in front of her?” I asked Nep.
“Sorry, man, she was hot,” he replied, as if that made it okay.
“She’s probably a thirteen-year-old boy, and you almost got us killed,” I replied.
“You know I can’t ignore a damsel in distress,” he said.
“You need to learn to. That wasted a lot of valuable time,” Jup said.
“On the bright side, we got some pretty good drops,” Plut commented.
“That’s the only reason I’m giving Nep this healing potion instead of reinserting the knife,” I replied.
We did get some awesome drops, I had to admit. I received an upgraded shotgun and a lot of ammo, which was good since I had run out. Jup got an amazing sword and a pistol. Both Nep and Plut also got shotguns and ammo.
After Nep finished healing, we went on—successfully getting me my sniper gun—and then fighting our way up the tower to obtain the first piece of the ticket.
We were now one step closer to the tournament.
“Oh, our main sponsor wants to redesign some new merch based on our team before the tournament,” Jup said as we prepared to log off.
“That way they have something to sell if we do well. Mars, did you want to send them some design options since you designed the last stuff?”
“Sure. I’ll see what I can think up and get it sent over. I’ll try to customize stuff based on each player, and then also do some generic team designs, so they have options,” I replied.
· · ·
While everyone was off-line, I started thinking about what designs to create.
Once I had some ideas, I grabbed my sketchbook and started sketching them out. I liked our merch to be pretty basic symbols. That way the sponsor could print it in whatever colors they wanted to fit guys or girls.
Then I texted my ideas to Jupiter.
Mars Thoughts?
Jupiter Wow, that was fast. I like them
Mars Really?
Jupiter Why do you seem surprised? I always like your work.
Aw, how sweet is he?
Jupiter Anyway, if you think the designs are finalized, go ahead and send them over to our sponsor Mars Will do. Got to get some homework done now though. I’ll talk to you later
With that, I put my phone away and focused back on the schoolwork that I had to get done before class on Monday. It was only Saturday, but I really hated waiting until the last minute. Besides, I had laundry and some other chores to do tomorrow. By eight, I had finished all my homework and
decided I would mess with Jup.
Mars
Hey lover, getting back on to play, or you goin out to cheat on me?
Jupiter
For someone who claims to be so shy, you sure aren’t shy about your feelings toward me
Mars
I thought we were past all the pretenses
Jupiter
Dude, the longer this joke goes on, the more I feel I need to get laid
Mars
Didn’t know I turned you on that much
Jupiter
What? Uh… That’s not what I meant! The opposite!
Mars
Dude, relax, I’m kidding
Jupiter
I’m hoping you and the other two can act like normal human beings when we’re all together for the first time.
Mars
So, just bro-hugs then?
Jupiter
How about a no-hugs policy?
Mars
That’s not nearly as fun. How about secret-hugs for a secret lover?
Jupiter
Why do I even bother talking to you?
Mars
Seven years of brotherhood…and you adore me.
Jupiter
More like seven years of tolerating you.
Mars
And loving every second of it, am I right?
Jupiter
I’m changing the subject. I won’t be online tonight. I’m going to the movies with some friends… Maybe I’ll meet a random girl.
Mars
Sounds like a blast (except for the girl part). Have a great night.
Jupiter
What are your plans?
Mars
Finished my homework, so I might play something online or read a book.
Jupiter
That’s a pretty dull evening for a seventeen-year-old…
Mars
It’s perfect for a shy seventeen-year-old
Jupiter
Whatever you say, dude. I gotta go before I’m late
Mars
Have fun, lover
Jupiter
…
· · ·
The next morning, I exchanged a few texts with Tracy. She mentioned that her brother had been acting strange after I left yesterday, asking questions about me. I assumed he was trying to figure out just how much of a weirdo I was.
She told me she gave him a brief rundown of my shyness and reassured him that he hadn’t done anything to upset me. Apparently, they discussed me for a bit before he retreated to his room to do boy things—as she put it.
She had spent the rest of yesterday doing homework and planned to take it easy today. I liked her idea of relaxing, but only once I had finished the laundry. My idea of relaxation, however, involved playing online with the guys.
