Chapter 6: Doing It All For The Dream of Victory

Loxus's POV

Loxus settled onto his bed and slipped on his headphones.

"What was that all about?" a goon inquired.

"Ah, right. You guys missed the conversation."

He cranked up the music and shut his eyes.

"And?"

"That was Wilt," Loxus whispered.

"The same guy we jumped some months back for his watch? The one whose basketball dreams we crushed?" another chimed in.

A smirk crossed Loxus's face. "Yeah, but I didn't go all out this time around."

"Hold on, his leg's all better now?"

Pulling off his headphones, Loxus pondered. It was curious they remembered. Could it be that only those present during the watch theft knew the real story?

"So why are you hanging out with the guy we mugged? He might get us in trouble, you know?" another of his goons asked.

He snickered. "It's fine. I got him under my control."

The goon's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

Loxus laughed. "It's a secret. Only thing you must know is that he will help me take Kellen to nationals."

"Nationals? The weakest university in the region?"

"You got it."

The goon scratched his head. "That's crazy. Is he that good to take a school that only won regionals once all the way into the nationals?"

Loxus hummed. "He is good, but there are other powerhouses out there. It's not gonna be easy. That's why when I saw him land that three pointer without jumping, I knew I could use him."

"Still, the dude's not gonna cooperate. He's gotta hate us for breaking his leg. How did you manage to convince him?"

"I threatened to break his other leg and the rest of his limbs."

"Wow, dude. That's some psycho shit right there."

Loxus chuckled. "I didn't do anything, though."

"Yeah, I'm sure the poor dude didn't want his legs and other limbs broken. Say, why are willing to go that far, boss?"

He glanced at a picture frame on his desk. "My older brother was a member of Kellen's team before its desolution six years ago."

"Desolution?"

"It was disbanded."

"Oh, yeah. I remember. There was this one guy who got the team to the semi-finals at nationals."

"Yeah, my brother."

"What was his name?"

"Laure."

He hummed. "The name's not ringing any bells."

"I'm not surprised. He died."

They gasped.

Loxus stared at the watch. 'If only this thing could let him travel further back.'

"If I get Kellen to nationals, I can achieve my brother's dream," Loxus whispered.

"But how did he die?" another of his goons asked.

He took a deep breath. "I rather not talk about it. I only want to focus on getting Kellen to nationals."

The goon scratched his head. "Fine, but I still think you should be more careful. Wilt could try to steal his watch back."

Loxus sighed. "True, but I can handle him. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna listen to some music."

He put my headphones back on and turned the volume all the way up. His big brother used to hate this kind of music.

---

"Loxus, please listen to something else. I'm tired of hearing that metal crap," Laure's voice echoed.

"Sorry, bro," Loxus muttered, turning it off.

He sighed and patted his head. "Bro, you're too young to listen to that stuff."

"Yeah, yeah," Loxus responded. "I know."

"Good. Now, what do you want to listen to?"

"Anything but classical and country," he answered, his tone light."

Laure laughed. "You got it, Loxus. Now, why don't you go out and play with the other kids. You'll make some friends."

Loxus shook his head.

"Come on, don't be shy."

Loxus crossed his arms and huffed. "I don't need friends!"

Laure smiled. "I see. You want to be strong and cool like your big bro, huh? Well, you're already strong. You can lift more than most kids your age."

He chuckled.

His older brother fuffled his hair. "That said, friends will make you stronger, Loxus. I hope you learn that one day."

Yeah, right. Friends only caused more trouble than they were worthed. Like those lame guys he used to hang out with during elementary.

"Come on you two, dinner is ready," Emiliana said, poking her head in.

"Be right there, dear," Laure said. "Come on, Loxus, let's eat."

He smiled and nodded.

-----

"Laure," he muttered.

He would win nationals with the help of Wilt and the rest of Kellen's team. And then he'd be one step closer to bringing his brother's dream to life. The dream he lived and died for. To take Kellen to nationals. To give the school their family founded its first national championship.

"I will succeed where you failed, big bro," Loxus whispered, his voice filled with determination.

He picked up his guitar and played a melody, his fingers dancing across the strings. It was a melody he had written himself.

Loxus had a feeling Wilt would come through. He only hoped the rest of their team wasn't filled with a bunch of wimps.

"Don't worry, bro. I'll bring you the trophy."

He continued playing, his music filling the air.

Loxus sighed as he stopped strumming. "Guess I better start practicing, too. Can't allow myself to lose to the competition."

He chuckled and set his guitar aside. "Let's see, what's the next move."

Loxus grabbed his phone and looked up the list of the other schools in the region. There were sixteen teams.

"I'll have to check each and every one of them," he muttered.

He clicked the first school on the list.

"Grammie High," he read.

It was a private school with a relatively large budget and an impressive gymnasium. The best athletes and coaches attended it.

"Looks like they're loaded. But they've been losing a lot lately. Guess their era is coming to an end."

Loxus smirked. "Looks like they're the perfect school to take down."

He checked their roster. Several of its new members were from Wilt's high school team. Was Grammie hoping for a revival of their glory days by recruiting the team's stars?

Loxus laughed. "Fools. I got the true star on my side. The rest were only side characters in his story."