Bryan's Decision

Taurus' room was enveloped in an ominous atmosphere. The air felt charged with electricity that could explode at any moment. Yet, a smiling invader bravely set foot into this danger zone.

"Hey, what's up, guys?" Jaiden greeted them with a smile. A bright and friendly smile, that looked too uncanny for the depressing atmosphere hanging in the air. "Good game there."

"Huh!?" Bruce shot a glare. "What do ya mean 'good game'? You came here to make fun at us!?"

"N-Not at all," Jaiden flinched in front of Bruce's overwhelming aura. However, he managed to calm himself by glancing at the friends standing behind him. [It's okay. They're there for me if something happens. I'm okay. It'll be okay. Yeah.]

"Of course, a defeat is a defeat," Jaiden continued. "But, you fought well. There were many times when you almost royally screwed the enemy. It's just that something went wrong at the last moment every time. Tough luck."

"Yeah, ya got that shit right," Bruce nodded. "Damn luck screwed us hard this game."

Bruce's aggression softened somewhat. But, he was still very much an enraged lion, waiting to leap on somebody at a moment's notice. "But, luck ain't everything. We also had a bunch of dumbasses playing like literal crap this game."

"Were they really that bad?" Jaiden asked calmly. "That's not how it looked to me from the audience. Everybody had their share of good and bad plays."

"Oh, yeah?" Bruce challenged Jaiden's positivity. "Then tell me, where exactly did Zeph make a 'good play' against the DK? He was screwing up the entire damn game!"

"Actually, Zeph played pretty well overall," Jaiden threw a friendly smile at Zeph. "His Dragonborn was lit. He pulled a bunch of high-level plays there. It's just that Chessmaster was prepared for everything. The guy knew every trick in the book. He's not an ex-StromBlitz player just for show."

"Well, doesn't change the fact we lost the game pretty hard thanks to Zeph," Bruce grumped. He didn't have a good retort to Jaiden's confident words, so he simply lashed out with blind anger.

"Yeah, that's how it turned out in the end," Jaiden didn't deny. "But, Zeph handled the situation well. He figured he couldn't beat Chessmaster by himself, so he cooperated with Dylan. They even almost killed the DK. But, things started going wrong when the Ninja popped outta nowhere and counter-ganked them. Even we didn't see that counter-gank coming, right, guys?"

"Yeah, that counter-gank was a shocker," Nash followed up. "It's like that Ninja traveled to Top through another dimension or some spooky shit. No joking, man,"

"Yeah, none of us saw it coming," Jaiden continued. "So, I wouldn't say Zeph played poorly. The enemy was just that sneaky. That unexpected counter-gank ruined everything. Zeph should've gotten a kill on the DK there, but ended up dead instead."

"Hmph," Bruce just listened without arguing back. He was probably waiting for an opportunity to strike back with something.

That's why Jaiden had to keep talking. Things finally started calming down, so he wanted to keep things this way."

"It was like a domino effect after that counter-gank," Jaiden continued. "You know how it is, right? You give a DK one kill and next, he ends your whole career. So, nothing to feel bad about."

Jaiden directed these words at Zeph. It was a pitiful sight. The guy was sitting in the corner with a pale face, questioning his life choices. He was beating himself way too hard over it.

"Cheer up, man," Jaiden encouraged. "It wasn't as bad as you think it is. Your opponents were just that good."

"Yeah, I guess," Zeph gave a weak smile. It didn't feel like Jaiden's words cured the guy's depression, but at least Zeph's face regained some vigor. He no longer looked like somebody who gave up on everything. It was the first step toward recovery.

"Okay, fine," Bruce clicked his tongue. "You're saying Zeph fought a tough opponent from StromBlitz and that the Ninja's gank was some serious shit. Then, how ya gonna excuse Bryan's fuck ups? Bruh blew it all up! We almost had that Impaler, I almost killed that bitch! But, then that Ninja ran us over and Bryan didn't do jack shit about it. That was some high-level scrubbing if I've ever seen one!"

"What are you talking about?" Jaiden met Bruce's anger with a blank expression. "Bryan set up everything perfectly. He pinned down the Impaler with the rain and spaced out the Druid like a pro. We all thought you had this one in the bag." Jaiden signaled with his hand behind his bag.

"Yeah, totally!" Nash followed up. "It was hella convincing. Bryan set things up just right and you rekt that Impaler. No matter how ya look at it, you guys were totally dominating there. Ain't nobody saw that Ninja coming. I'm tellin' ya. That chick is like some sort of ghost. Gotta be hax, man."

"Well, Bryan should have seen her coming," Bruce insisted. "That's part of his job, isn't it? He gotta [support] me, ya know? Hey B, ya hear that? You gotta be on the lookout for ganks and shit." He turned on Bryan again because it was easier than dealing with Jaiden and Nash together. 1v1 was always easier than 1v2.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," Bryan shrugged.

"Huh? Not sure I like your tone, bro."

"Sorry, I'm just feeling a little down after that game."

"Well, you better be. You played like a scrub."

"Guh...!" Bryan clenched his fists. [What's his problem? Does he have to rub it in like this? How about you criticize yourself for a change, huh!?]

Bryan felt like he was about to explode. Even though he did his best as Bruce's Support and planned everything to a T, he didn't receive a single word of gratitude from Bruce. Even Jaiden, a bystander, appreciated Bryan's efforts way more than the guy who was supposed to be his "partner".

[I'm tired of this shit. It's the same damn thing every time.] Playing Support was the epitome of suffering when the team was losing. Bryan put so much effort and worked so hard, only to find himself at the receiving end of Bruce's senseless accusations.

Sure, when things were going well, Bruce knew how to shower the Support with praise. But, the moment things went wrong, it was immediately the end of the world. And, of course, it was all Bryan's fault. It was always Bryan's fault, no matter what actually happened.

When Bruce overextended and got ganked? It was Bryan's fault for not covering for his partner. When Bruce lost a fight he picked himself? It was Bryan's fault for not helping out enough.

No matter what, everything was always Bryan's fault. There was no justice to be found anywhere for the Support. It was all suffering. Bruce always made sure to drill that misguided lesson into Bryan.

[That's not how a lane partner should be acting.] Bryan shook his head. Bruce was supposed to be Bryan's trusted partner on lane, but that dumbass was no good.

A good partner would understand the circumstances and criticize accordingly. For example, Bryan's only mess up in that situation was his failure to catch the sneaky Ninja in time. Other than that, he did everything else almost flawlessly.

A good partner would understand all of that. He'd call Bryan out on that one mistake and discuss some solutions for the next game. He won't be throwing a tantrum like a baby, yelling "YOU MESSED UP EVERYTHING! IT WAS ALL YOUR FAULT! WHAAAAAA!"

In that sense, Jaiden was a much better fit to play Carry. The kid was just a junior, but he already knew what's up. The Support was the Carry's most trusted ally on lane, not some stranger to roast for fun. Jaiden's words conveyed he perfectly understood that basic notion.

In fact, the way Jaiden was analyzing the game inspired a lot of confidence in general. He even went out of his way to make Zeph feel better about that terrible game. The kid had some fine leadership skills. Everybody was already expecting Jaiden to become the captain next year.

[To be honest, I'd gladly have Jaiden as the captain right now.] Bryan glanced at Raymond, who was still sitting quietly at the corner. Instead of brooding, the captain was now attentively listening to the back-and-forth between Jaiden and Bruce.

[You better take notes, cap.] Bryan thought. [Jaiden is pretty much doing your work for you. If you just came here and said the same things Jaiden is saying, Bruce would shut up. That dumbass is acting high and mighty only because he's dealing with a junior. Sigh.]

"And, Dyl played like trash too!" Bruce kept yelling nonsense. "He couldn't even gank the DK! What the fuck, man!?"

[Is this ever gonna end?] Bryan sighed. Things were getting out of hand today. It usually only took a few minutes for Bruce to calm down after venting, but not today. His ranting had no end.

[Is it because it's an official match? Did the nerves get to him?] Bryan pitied Bruce a little. Despite acting all high and mighty, it seemed like Bruce cracked under pressure. He was never good at controlling his emotions, and the pressure of playing on stage only made things worse. He was probably mad about the way he embarrassed himself in front of the audience. It hurt his stupid ego. How dumb.

"That Ninja excuse again!?" Bruce barked. "You keep bringing up that bitch like she's some pro player!"

The yelling was still going strong. There was no end in sight. Break time will be over in about five minutes, but nothing has been resolved yet. At this rate, Bruce will continue his ranting on stage. Sigh.

Sigh. Sigh. And more sigh. All Bryan could do was sigh.

The next game was going to be even more unbearable than the previous one. Honestly, Bryan didn't even want to play anymore. If this were Ranked, he'd come up with an excuse to bail out right here and now.

Unfortunately, this was an official scrimmage. It was like the prelims for the regionals. He was one of the club's representatives, so he had to put on a fitting performance. He couldn't just quit because didn't feel like it. Or, could he?

[They allow subs, don't they?] Bryan suddenly remembered that rule. Even if he quits, one of the seniors will be able to sub in. [That is, if we HAD any other seniors here today. We kinda chased them all out, didn't we? Haha...]

Bryan could only laugh at the irony. This gang worked very hard to gain control over the first-string. So hard, in fact, that the other seniors lost all motivation and pretty much quit. Thanks to that, there weren't any seniors available as subs today.

[You reap what you sow, huh.] Bryan smiled wryly. [Well, I can't blame these guys for quitting. Honestly, I'd probably quit too in their place. The club was no longer safe for them.]

Bruce did all sorts of nasty things to bring this gang to where it was today. Actually, no. It wasn't only Bruce. Bryan also actively participated in it.

Applying intimidation, monopolizing the clubroom, and forcing everybody to say that the gang deserved to be on the first-string the most. They practically terrorized the club in order to secure their current positions.

[And, that'd where it brought us.] Bryan sighed for the millionth time. Maybe they overestimated themselves. They thought they owned the team and deserved to lead it, but today they crashed and burned hard. It was a huge blow to their confidence.

[Maybe we're not ready yet for this high level. I mean, even a team like Stratus is making us look bad. That's embarrassing as heck when you got an audience.]

"Besides, what do you known!?" Bruce kept yelling. "You're just lil' junior! Ya think you understand the game better than me, huh!?"

At this point, Bruce's arguments derailed into nothing more than personal attacks. He has already spent the few real arguments he had, but he kept attacking as if his life depended on it.

Honestly, it was pathetic. Bruce simply couldn't let it go. He should've realized he lost. Nobody was on his side at this point.

[But, it doesn't look like he gonna stop any time soon.] Bryan sighed. [Looks like this won't end until somebody does something.]

But, what could be done? The best solution was to kick Bruce off the team for a while and let the guy cooldown on the bench. But, there was no chance in hell of Bruce peacefully agreeing to that. Only the captain could make that happen, but it didn't look like Raymond was planning to make a move.

But, not all hope was lost. There was one alternative. Instead of making Bruce quit, others could quit instead. If Bruce loses his footing in the team, it might be easier to make him give up and quit. Heck, he might even rage quit of his own volition at that point.

[But, what we gonna do about subs?] Bryan knotted his brows. None of the other seniors came to watch the scrimmage. There were only juniors and freshmen on the bench today.

So, even if somebody from the first-string will give up their position, who would sub for them? Bryan's eyes naturally laid on the three juniors in the room.

Jaiden, Nash, and Rio. These three always played together, so they had solid teamwork. Jaiden was well-known as a strong player, considered to be on par with the seniors. His two buddies weren't particularly special as far as Bryan knew, but together they were a decent gang.

[They're the next best thing we got.] Bryan nodded to himself.

There was no chance these inexperienced kids were even close to the level of seniors like Bryan. However, in the current climate, they might do a better job. Playing alongside Bruce in his current state was like asking to get stomped by the enemy.

[Welp, guess I'mma head out.] Bryan stood up. [I'm leaving the rest to you, Jaiden.] He communicated with his eyes on his way to the door.

"Hm?" Jaiden blinked with a puzzled expression.

"Hey, I'm still talking to ya!" Bruce thundered. "Whatcha looking at!?" He turned around. What he saw was... odd, to say the least.

"Hey, B!" Bruce called out. "Where are ya going?"

"Ah, shit, ahem" Bryan cleared his throat. He didn't expect to be caught red-handed before getting to the door. "To the... toilet?" He smiled awkwardly as he continued approaching the door.

"Toilet? Then why are ya acting all funny like that?"

"Well, actually," Bryan took a deep breath. He reached the door now, so it was time to drop the bomb. Hopefully, that bomb won't explode in his own face. If push comes to shove, he'll just bolt outta here. "I'm done."

"Done? What do ya mean?"

"Done dealing with your shit," Bryan couldn't stop the anger from seeping right his words. "If you wanna keep bitching about how everybody is playing, then find somebody else to play with. I'm done supporting you."

"Huh? Bruh, are ya high?" Bruce's face contorted. He was like a ticking bomb about to go off. "You throwing the match!?"

"Yeah, I'm subbing out," Bryan declared. "Find somebody else to play Support for you, if you even can."

"Hey, hey, bro. You can't just quit like that," Bruce advanced toward Bryan. He was wearing a smile of disbelief, refusing to believe this was really happening. But, once reality sinks in, he'll definitely explode into a fit of rage. Bryan had to get away before that.

"Heh, look at that," Bryan produced a fake laugh and pointed past Bruce.

"Huh?" Bruce turned around to check what's up.

[Fell for it!] Bryan busted the door open and blitzed through it. [So long, sucker!]

"Wha-!? You fucker! Come back here!" Bruce gave chase. The door closed on him before he could hit the brakes, so he ended up ramming into it. "Fuck! B! Come back here!" Bruce flung the door open and stepped outside.

"HEY! B! YOU PIECE OF SHIT! COME HERE!" Bruce wanted to give chase but he was too far behind. [Fuck! What's up with B!? Did he forget how to take constructive criticism all of a sudden? What the actual fucking fuck!?]

And so, the team began falling apart...