Outbreak of Angst

The second game was over. Both teams headed back to their waiting rooms. Jaiden spent some time talking to Gunz and Chessmaster, so he was late to the team's waiting room.

Nash and Rio were already there, standing outside the room with nervous expressions. They exchanged glances and took turns sneaking peeks into the room. It seemed like they wanted to step inside but couldn't find the courage.

"What's wrong?" Jaiden asked.

"So, you're here..." Nash's voice was uncharacteristically weak. "Welp, just check it out, man. You'll see what's up."

"It's a bloody battlefield," Rio mumbled some dangerous-sounding words.

"Lemme see," Jaiden approached the entrance and peeked inside. The air in the room was charged. It felt like the entire place could blow up at any moment.

In the center of it all was Bruce, raging about like a beast with rabies. "I died because of your shitty ass supporting! How didn't you see that Ninja coming!?"

"I'm not a prophet, you know," Bryan clicked his tongue and shifted his eyes away.

"Okay, then why weren't you helping me fight that Impaler bitch!?"

"I was busy spacing out the Druid..." Bryan sighed deeply. He has probably explained himself countless times by now, but it was never good enough. Bruce continued raging.

BAM. Bruce slammed a table with his fists. Everybody in the room flinched at the booming sound. Even Jaiden jumped from it, even though he was all the way outside. Gulp.

"Shit! Damn it!" Bruce kicked a chair and sent it flying across the room. His fury knew no bounds. He turned into a madman who wanted to destroy everything in front of him.

"Why can't you play a good Support for once!? You useless piece of shit!" Bruce mercilessly insulted the one who should've been his best friend.

"BB" became a common nickname for "Bruce & Bryan" because they always hanged out together and played Bot as a duo. And yet, Bruce attacked even Bryan without any reservations. He was mad beyond control. It was doubtful whether he could still be considered "sane" at this point.

"Yeaaaaah, okay," Jaiden awkwardly slid out of the room. "I see why you don't want to go in."

"Right?" Nash smiled wryly. "I say we let them sort things out themselves."

"Not sure that's going to happen," Jaiden glanced at Raymond, the captain and the only one in that room with enough strength to stop Bruce. Unfortunately, the captain was sitting silently at the corner of the room with a difficult expression on his face. He appeared to be deep in thought about something. About what? Nobody knew.

Meanwhile, Bruce's anger raged across the room like a typhoon. Nobody dared to stand up to the godfather. He claimed full authority over the clubroom through sheer terror. Nobody opposed him, therefore he reigned supreme.

Somebody had to do something. Somebody had to speak up against Bruce and force that furious beast to calm down. Alas, nobody dared.

[Then, I'll do it.]Jaiden clenched his fists. He'll go in there, stand face-to-face with the beast, and tell the guy to calm the heck down. With that brave action, he'll rescue the club from ruin and will lead them to a better tomorrow!

[Yeaaaah, right. I'm not a cartoon superhero.] Jaiden smiled wryly. He got into some disagreements with Bruce before, so he knew the terror of confronting Bruce's fierce aggression. To make things worse, Bruce was especially agitated at the moment. It wasn't a question of whether Bruce will punch Jaiden, but rather how hard will he punch and how many times.

"We'll back ya up!" Nash showed a thumbs up as if he read Jaiden's mind. "If he starts a fight, we can take him down together!"

"Do you really think that'll be enough to stop him?" Jaiden smiled wryly.

"I don't want to fight..." Rio caved in a little.

"C'mon, man up, man!" Nash smacked Rio on the back. "We got this! If we combine our powers, we're the Invincible Triangle!"

"That's only in the game," Rio retorted.

"Then we'll make it work in real life as well!"

"Would be neat if it worked," Jaiden nodded with a smile. But, he knew all too well how strong Bruce was. The mad lad took on two seniors before and beat the crap out of them. So, even together, Jaiden and Nash probably didn't stand a chance.

At the same time, if nobody does anything about this, the team will be heading into the next game in this broken state. Needless to say, they'll lose that game sure. In-fights will break out, dumb decisions will be made, and the match will be over in a blink of an eye. Taurus will suffer an embarrassing 0-3 defeat against the "weakest team".

[We'd win for sure If they just let us sub in.] Jaiden had such pointless thoughts. There was no chance in hell that Bruce would surrender the Carry position to anybody else, not even for one game. Jaiden won't get to play today, he had no choice but to come to terms with that fact.

Nevertheless, he didn't want his team to lose. Bruce's gang was far from likable, but Jaiden didn't hate them enough to wish for their defeat. Deep down, they weren't such bad guys. Even Bruce was fine when he wasn't blowing a fuse.

Therefore, Jaiden still wanted them to win today's scrimmage. But, what could he do to help? He wasn't on the first-string, but there had to be something he could do too.

[It'd be great if I could somehow stop Bruce's rampage, but that's out of the question.] Jaiden gulped. There was no way he could confront that gang leader.

But, maybe there was no need for direct confrontation. Jaiden merely had to find a way to defuse the heavy atmosphere in the room and make everybody regain their vigor.

[Easier said than done.] Jaiden contemplated. Everybody had grim expressions on their faces. They looked like death row inmates waiting for their executions. There was not a single glimmer of hope found on their faces. The crushing defeat at Stratus's hand shook them to the core.

Bruce was coping with that frustration by venting his anger, probably on the behalf of everybody else. If it wasn't him, then somebody else would be raging and ranting right now. Everybody retained their composure thanks to Bruce making a scene all by himself.

Even though Bruce was the only one actively blaming others, the rest of the team probably harbored similar feelings about each other. They just didn't voice them, because Bruce was already busy loudly criticizing each and every one of them. It was a helpless scene.

"And Zeph!" Bruce continued. "How could you lose to that DK so easily!? It cost us the whole game!"

"He was strong. Too strong." Zeph hung his head. He looked like somebody who lost all hope in life. The devastating defeat he suffered at Chessmatser's hand must have crushed his soul. Bruce should've spared some words of encouragement instead of yelling at the poor guy, but...

"What? 'Strong'? That's your excuse?" Bruce sneered. "Are ya a Bronze player or somethin'? No, you're Diamond, for God's sake! DK ain't nothing! You gotta be able to handle that shit."

"It's not the DK, it's the player..." Zeph gave up mid-sentence. He knew that everything he said will fall on deaf ears. Bruce wasn't really asking these questions to get a satisfying answer, he was just looking for excuses to continue his tantrum.

[Maybe I shouldn't have tried so hard to join this stupid team.] Zeph questioned everything he has done up to this point. He pretended to be a good friend of Bruce and the gang in order to secure himself a spot on the first-string.

Over time, the pretense became the truth. He got to know the guys better and realized they weren't all that bad. They were just a little gangsta, that's all.

However, Bruce's short temper was the one thing Zeph could never grow to like. It was like a dark cloud looming over their alliance. With the right catalyst, everything will come crashing down. And, the humiliating defeat they suffered might've been that exact catalyst.

Frankly, it was a terrible game. Even if Zeph ignored how everybody else played that game, his performance alone was enough to invoke harsh criticism. It was just him against Chessmaster in Top and he got outplayed left and right. He couldn't make a single dent in Chessmatser's flawless game plan.

[Maybe I wasn't ready.] Zeph sighed in defeat. There was an obvious skill gap between him and Chessmaster. If they duel ten more times, Zeph will lose those ten times in a row. It felt hopeless. There was no chance of beating that impossibly strong opponent. It was like fighting a pro.

Considering how badly Chessmaster wrecked him, Zeph couldn't really deny any of Bruce's insults. It was frustrating to admit, but the harsh criticism was on point. Zeph fed that Dark Knight like an inexperienced Bronze player. It was a big factor in the team's humiliating defeat. There was nothing Zeph could say to excuse himself. It was all his fault.

And so, Bruce's complaints continued uninterrupted. After finishing one round, he went back to yelling at Bryan.

"Next game, maker sure you actually support me!" Bruce threatened. "I don't need a scarecrow there. I need somebody who gets shit done. Ya hear me!?"

"Yeah, I hear you," Bryan nodded, then averted his eyes and sighed. [Why do I even bear with this shit?]

Somebody among them had to play Support for Bruce. However, Dylan vehemently refused to do it. As for Zeph, things always blew up when he tried it, probably because he wasn't that close to Bruce and didn't know how to deal with Bruce's whims.

And so, the responsibility fell on Bryan. If he wanted to play in the first-string, he had to become Bruce's Support.

[Mid is so much better for me, tho.] Bryan sighed deeply. Unfortunately, Mid belonged to the captain. Raymond was surprisingly adamant about playing Mid, totally unlike his usual passive attitude toward everything.

[If he showed at least half of that assertion when handling the club, maybe we wouldn't have ended up in this situation.] Bryan shot a blaming glare at their captain, who was sitting at the corner of the room with a difficult expression. [No matter how much you brood, it ain't gonna help anybody. Ya gotta speak up and do something. Bruce is getting off the rails here.]

[Honestly, I'm so tired of this shit.] Bryan stomped repeatedly, venting his pent-up anger at the floor. He was tired of playing an ungrateful role out of necessity. He was tired of always nodding his head to whatever bullshit Bruce was spouting. All that shit was exhausting. Enough already.

[Maybe I should just quit?] It wasn't the first time this thought crossed his mind. Every time Bruce went on a dumb rampage, such thoughts crept into the back of Bryan's mind. He felt the urge to just drop the whole thing and let it go. He couldn't bear another moment listening to this bullshit.

[If only somebody came and confronted Bruce. I'd gladly back them up.] Bryan had such idle thoughts.

Nobody was going to come and stand up to Bruce. That gangster shot down anybody who dared to oppose him in the past. It set a clear example for others. Nobody will dare to try anything again.

It was hopeless. Ever since this gang seized the monopoly of the club, nobody dared to oppose them. Nobody was going to do anything. Or, so Bryan thought...