Summer 2015: Cormick

[Scumfish]

A hush fell about the room.

He hadn't slept well for the entire time he was here. The night before it started, he'd paced, gone through tactics with his team for the team rounds, paced more and eventually given up and gone on the beta for a few hours before managing a couple of hours kip.

First day, his team - X-Men616 - massacred everything that moved, made it through to the main competition. But he didn't get drunk with the rest of his team, oh no, because the next day the real competition started. Oh, not the team one, the individual championships...what he was here for.

His eyes didn't move from the screen. Even the announcers were quiet.

The second day, his name wandered up the leader board. Everyone he went against, he beat. Some were a challange, some actually made him sweat and one actually had him down to his last 10k health before a well-placed Blood Strike won the day for him. But he won them all.

His name, though, wasn't the only one wandering up the board. The reigning World Champion, playing a Gnome Rogue (always a fucking gnome rogues, he hated gnome fucking rogues) was also making his way up.

Break. Team championships. His made it to the semi-finals, then got knocked out. Never mind, they tried and got damn far, not bad for his first ever try in the team rosters. No one's fault, they just didn't have the skills.

That night, the night before the quarter finals for the single PvP championships, Mick didn't sleep at all.

Quater finals. Semi-finals. And now, now he was sitting in a room of computers, him and the reigning World Champion. No sound, besides what was happening on the screens. The two huge screens on the stage showed the action, though both had their backs to them and were unable to see - that way they couldn't cheat.

Mick wondered vaguely if it was cheating that he used the Danger Room to practice his tactics...total VR immersion had sharpened his button-pushing reactions down to the vital half-a-second, after all...

Stealth-sound. Where the fuck was he this time? Fuck, sapped, but hell yes trinket. There was a collective indrawn breath from the watchers, the tension palpable-

And then suddenly the reigning World Champion was dead. After an hour of them hunting each other round, the Alliance was dead and the Horde reigned supreme. Mick sat back as the room erupted, letting out a breath and pulling his headset down to rest around his neck as hands were suddenly clapping him on the back, cheering, people hugging him...

...The rush wasn't what he expected it to be, actually. A year ago, he would have been ecstatic. He would have been punching the air, singing victory songs...now he just stared at the screen as his score came up, smirking, proud but...

But what? He'd won a computer game. He was now Grand High Overlord Geekmaster. Mick breathed out. Of course he wasn't getting the rush he expected, he was an X-Man, Pipeline, he'd helped stop a real-life nuclear war (albiet by dropping a warhead on his foot, which was why he still had crutches, but that wasn't the point).

Still though. He grinned. He'd won. He was the reigning PvP World Champion. Computer game or not, that was still a feat to be proud of.

[PsychoKez056]

Awwww total geekdom!

[Starfish]

Curt: Curt shuffled into the recroom, exhausted and still a bit lurchy in the tummy. He had nausia the entire evening, once he had changed back from Lizard of course. His control when he was sick was... embarrassing. Laura had stayed with him in the DR for quite some time, until about 5AM when he had actually fallen asleep.

Curt: He was grateful to wake up alone, and now, shuffling about the recroom in his godzilla slippers, he edged to the couch, which he crumpled down upon and curled up, trying not to moan.

Melati: Her fingers struck a chord on the guitar in her lap, which brought a frown to Melati's face. She reached for the notepad and pen resting on the arm of the chair, crossed out a couple of notes, then added a few more scribbles. The shuffling made her look up. "Yo, Curt."

Melati: Her gaze wandered from his face down to his feet. "Nice," she added, a smirk forming on her lips. "Reptile power, represent."

Mick: "I aaaaam the chaaaampion, oh yes, that's me, chaaaampion, oh yeeeah." Mick limped in from the kitchen, cheese sandwich in one hand, coffee in the other and looking disgustingly happy with himself. "Hey! People!"

Curt: Curt dragged his hands down his face, the pain of the sounds grinding down on him. However, until he could drag himself upstairs, he had no place to grumble. "I'm not naked, am I Mel? I didn't really get to check yet... Bad night."

Melati: "Hey, mighty Mick-Man." Mel gave the boy a quick wave, before fixing Curt with a frown. "No? Did you plan to be naked?"

Mick: "Hey hey Melinator!" Mick plonked himself down, glad to take the weight of his bad foot - it was still healing, and still hurt. "Oooh, Curt, y' look like you drank enough to floor Rubin las' night, dude, you okay?"

Curt: He groaned into the pillow and pushed his head up. "No... I'm sick..." He said, unapologetically. "I can't control my lesser half when I'm like this so..." He reached for the quilt on the edge of the couch and pulled it over him. "I had a long night... I feel kind of stupid..."

Melati: "Welcome to every single weekend of my life." She laughed and put aside the notepad. "Well, except that in my case, it's really because of the booze, and not some lizard flu." Her brow furrowed as she gave Curt a look. "Speaking of which, I think you should stay over there."

Curt: "No plans on moving..." he moaned as he put the pillow on his face.

Mick: "Aw man, that sucks - in summer break too." Mick gave him a sympathetic look. "There anythin' you can do about it? An' why do you feel stupid? I mean, y' sick, ain't nothin' you can do about that, right?"

Curt: "I did many a bad thing once I lost control..." He admitted. "One of those things being attacking Jess. My own girlfriend had to break it up. That's just... embarassing." He wished right now his mutant ability was to teleport bottles of water around his immediate vicinity.

Melati: "Still sounds like the average weekend of drinking to me," Mel commented, slightly tilting her head. "Though, I gotta admit, ending up in a fight not because of booze, but a bad case of super-flu does kinda suck hard. Anyone got hurt?"

Curt: "I don't know... I don't think so. I haven't checked yet." He sat up, sort of, and looked to Mick. "If you see anything with Lizard being bad... avoid and report. Please."

Melati: "Aw man, here I was hoping I'd get to ride him," she replied with a fake pout, lowering the guitar down to her lap.

Curt: He grumbled. "Not the best idea..." He reached for the remote, sniffling, and then turned the tv on. Quiet. News... that looked good.

Mick: "Noted, though uh...no problem on th' avoidin' thing. I'm a teleporter, the most I can do is make him go to sleep."

Curt: "That might actually help." Curt said, cracking a smile for the first time in many hours. "I'm really afraid of what I'll do without my control... I mean, what if I had hurt Jess? Or Laura?" He felt even more sick thinking about it.

Melati: "I don't know, you'd feel even crappier now?" Melati shrugged, a frown on her face. "If you have problems keeping control, you should do something to make sure that doesn't happen, no? Like, get someone to watch you. Or lock yourself up somewhere."

Mick: "Yeah, you'd feel pretty shit after being converted to a data packet an' then dumped, mate, trust me. Can make some people feel pretty nauseous if I ain't careful." Mick took a bite of his sandwich. "Oooooh, inappropriate timin', but guess who's the geekiest geek of them all?"

Curt: "Yeah... I'm thinking Laura did a pretty good job last night, but I feel bad asking he to do that." He grimaced at the idea of asking his girlfriend to beat him up every time he got mean and green. "My mutation isn't one of those gifts y'know? It's a danger. I can't do dangerous. My nerves are shot." He looked to Mick. "Ugh... eating."

Melati: "We could take turns, you know," Melati suggested, before turning to look at Mick. "Yeah, I think this lizard here will stay good old analog for another while."

Mick: "I got no issues putting you t' sleep every time you go snappy, dude." Mick looked at his sandwich and put it down. "Sorry, man, didn't think - firs' time I've been awake since I got back, hungry as hell, you know?" He grinned. "Hey hey, you're lookin' at the World of Warcraft PvP World Champion, thank you very much, oh yes."

Curt: Curt grumbled about missing work, miserably rolled off the couch, and (still in his Godzilla slippers) shuffled to the door frame of the rec room. "Let it be known... that I am very unsure of how this day is going to go. Pass the word... avoid and report."

Curt: Keeping his head pressed against the wall as he walked away, trying to use the support to keep him standing. "Ginger... ale...." he moaned as he went to the kitchen.

Melati: She squinted, her eyes fixed on Mick. "I've no idea what you just said there, but to me it very much sounded like 'would you please suspend me from the flagpole with my boxers'," Mel said, looking dead-serious for a moment before she burst out a laugh. "Just kidding. You're alright - for a nerd."

Melati: Frowning, she looked after Curt. "I guess that means we're not supposed to help him if he falls over and can't get up again."

Mick: "Hey, if he does then no mean, green, nomming machine, righ'?" He picked up the sammich again, grinning at Mel. "No worries, mate, it ain' all that big a deal. I jus' proved I'm the biggest nerd in the world because I am ultimate pixel slayer." He chewed for a moment. "...I should get Danger somethin', actually...it's...kinda 'cause of her I won..." He blushed a little bit.

Melati: Her frown did not disappear as she turned to look back at Mick. "Do I want to know why that is," Mel asked. "Don't tell me you played your games on her or something like that."

Mick: "No! No...well...technically, I mean, she's the Danger Room...right? Or something..." Mick took a bite, not quite looking at Melati. "Uuuh. What I mean is...I set Warcraft up in there...got her t' help me do a complete immersive VR of it, so instead of a computer screen I was actually in th' game, as the character...she started playin' wit' me and we made a pretty epic team, you know?"

Mick: He smiled. "Got my reaction times down, an' trust me, player-versus-player, you need that. Uh. It's good trainin' for X-Men too..."

Melati: "Well, I guess no one could accuse you of sitting in front of a computer screen all day," she said, her fingers idly tugging the strings on the guitar. Then she grinned. "Even though you still hang out in the basement. Not that I blame you - even as a non-gaming specimen, I gotta say that room is pretty wicked awesome."

Mick: "Hah! You should totally come see my basement - it's Tronland down there." He grinned. "Yeah...she is, isn't she?" He bit into his sandwich again. "I-I mean yeah, it's cool, totally." He flushed bright red as he realised the slip he'd made. "Uh. So. You play guitar? I didn' know that."

Melati: "Yeah, used to have my own band back home," Mel replied with a nod. "Well, sometimes, anyway. Always used to move around and change schools a lot, so the line-up was pretty much in constant flux. Right now, the number of members is effectively one." She chuckled.

Mick: "Dude, that sucks. I can't play an instrument worth shit - must be fun though." He shook his head. "Always wanted to learn guitar, but half-deaf-" He pointed to the hearing aid in one ear. "So ain't really able t' hold a tune much. Still, bet there's plenty here who can play, right? Thought about restartin'?" The blush started to die down. Slowly.

Melati: "Hell yeah, of course I do!" She cracked a grin. "Nothing ever could keep the Lizard of Oi down for long, and this is just a minor set-back. Besides, got a little more time on my hand right now, so I might just go around and give some people here a poke." She nodded towards Mick's afflicted ear. "Sorry to hear that, dude. That's gotta suck."

Mick: "Eh, born like it, probably the drugs Mum was doin' while I was cookin'." Mick shrugged, grinning. "'Sides, I've got an aid, not like I can't hear, righ'? And it's even been modded so I can use it as a transmitter to jump down." He picked up his coffee. "That and I've got one for missions, so I can get radio chatter. What sorta music you do?"

Melati: "Hey, that's a clever idea," Mel commented and nodded. "Mostly good old rock and handmade punk, so I guess you could say I play whatever the fuck I feel like. Proper stuff like that might thought to be dead around these parts, but believe me when I say we do our share to keep it alive and well in Malaysia."

Mick: "Hey, so long as it ain' R&B or anythin' from the sixties, I'll listen to it." Mick grinned. "Dunno if you heard, my folks are...pretty damn big on anything from the hippy days. I am sick as hell of it all." He finished the sandwich, wrapping around his coffee instead. "...If I ask if you're like th' Sex Pistols, are you gonna throw shit at me?"

Melati: That brought forth a laugh. "Ah no, don't worry, that's cool," Mel replied. "Hey, they were pretty good, after all. And if there's one thing wrong with punk these days, it's that people take it too seriously and think there's a right and wrong way to do it. Because there isn't, and that's the whole point of it, you know? It is whatever it wants to be."

Melati: "Anyway, should I ever get together another troop, consider yourself invited to our first gig." She smirked. "You can also bring Danger, if you like."

Mick: Mick blushed furiously. "I...uh...thanks, I-I'll see if she wants to go..." Oh hell, was he really that obvious? "Um...that's a good way of lookin' at it, and guess it can...you know...go for all kinda music, right?" He cleared his throat. "I mean, unless you're some kind of elitest hipster idiot that gets off on labels, I guess..."

Melati: "Oh, I love hipsters, my favorite victim to pick on." She grinned. "Just thought it might do you both some good to get dragged out of that basement once in a while, you know? Besides, you mentioned getting her a little something, and I can really see Danger being the kind of girl who'd know how to appreciate chocolates."

Mick: He didn't look up, still blushing, but nodded. "No, well..." He coughed a little. "Y-yeah, it'll do her good t' get out in the real world, see how uh...human interaction goes and all."

Melati: "Oh, I bet it would," Mel replied with a nod, thinking back to her own experience of getting drilled with questions by the curious robot. Tilting her head, she glanced past Mick and frowned. "You think Curt died in there?"

Mick: Mick turned to the kitchen, glad of the subject change. "I...have no idea, but I haven't heard him fall down're anythin'...you uh...think we should go check?"

Melati: "Yeah, why not," she said, giving a casual shrug. "I feel like hunting myself such a sandwich you had earlier."

Mick: "Cheeeese." He finished his coffee. "Anyway, I want another coffee. And I guess between us we can take him down if he's gone all...bad." He grinned a little nervously before standing. "C'mon then."

Melati: "Righto!" Mel leaned the guitar against the side of the chair and rose to her feet. "If he's really gone all Godzilla again, we don't take him down until I've had my chance to ride him across the lawn."

Mick: Mick laughed. "I take my hat off t' someone more badass than me, Mel." He limped to the kitchen. "Though if he's been ill? Yeah...we're gettin' Jimmy in t' clean it, deal?"

Melati: Melati laughed. "Deal," she replied, looking over her shoulder to give Mick a wink.