Bruce stepped outside the room to chase after Bryan.

"Lock him outside," Rio suggested something dangerous.

"Haha, that'll be a riot!" Nash gave a thumbs up. "I approve of this idea." 

"Oh, yeah?” Jaiden smirked. “Then, you do it."

"A-Ahahaha!" Nash produced an awkward laugh. "I'm still young, you know? I wanna keep on living, thank you."

"Aren't you older than me?" 

"Details! It's just a couple of months anyway."

"You're that scared, huh," Jaiden smiled mischievously. "And you call yourself a man after that?" 

"Huh! A real man doesn’t walk into a fight he can't win. That's what they call being smart," Nash pointed at his temple as if implying he actually had something inside that head.

"Then,” Jaiden started. “I guess we still have to deal with him once he comes back.”

"How about you lock him out?" Nash suggested.

"Nah, I'm not suicidal."

"Heh, right?"

They rather let go of their bravado than confront a beast like Bruce. That's how strong of a force that guy was. The ultimate final boss of Taurus.

"Fuck!" Bruce cursed on his way back. "That dumbass! Now we're one player short now! What we gonna do, cap?"

"Hrm," Raymond crossed his arms. "We'll have to sub somebody in." 

"Like who? Nobody else from third-year came today."

"Right. That’s why," Raymond looked at Jaiden's gang. "We'll have to sub one of the juniors." 

"Goddammit. Guess we got no choice," Bruce examined the juniors with a disgusted expression as if they were lowly bugs compared to him. "Hey, you. Whatcha name, again? Anyway, you play Support, right?" 

"Ah, y-yeah," Rio flinched at Bruce's thundering voice. 

"Okay, perfect! You sub for B," Bruce commanded.

"No," Rio answered briefly.

"Huh?" A vein popped on Bruce's temple. "What's that, junior? I'm being kind and offer you a spot on the team, and you be spitting in the face like that? Is that how it gonna be, huh!?"

"Ah, um," Rio backed away. Despite his confident answer, he was quaking in his boots. He didn't want to be anywhere within a ten-meter radius of that chronic bully. 

"Hey, drop it," Nash stepped in between Bruce and Rio. "He's saying he doesn't wanna do it."

"Nobody asked ya, kid," Bruce pushed Nash away. 

"Whoa-!?" Nash tripped and almost dived into the floor, but a supporting hand caught him at the last moment. "Phew. Thanks, man," 

"No problem," Jaiden nodded. He also positioned himself between Bruce and Rio. Jaiden and Nash were like knights who came forth to protect their princess.

Guys, I... Rio pursed his lips. It was his fault. Just because he bluntly refused Bruce like that, his friends were about to get themselves into trouble. It was all his fault. Maybe he should accept the offer, even if it meant playing Support for this vermin...

"Don't worry," Jaiden threw him a confident smile. "We got this."

"So, that's how it gonna be?" Bruce lifted his chin in arrogance again the two bodyguards. "Gonna cover for that sissy friend of yours? Pft, alright then. Looks like somebody gotta spank ya kids real good. C'mon, you can come at me together!" He cracked his fists in anticipation. Beating the living crap outta somebody was a great way to vent, so he was all for it right now.

"So, what's the plan?" Jaiden whispered.

"Huh? What plan?" Nash whispered back. 

"You said a true man doesn’t walk into a fight he can't win, right? So, how you plan to win?" 

"Oh, put a sock in it, " Nash produced a dry laugh. "I got nothing, man. I think we're screwed, haha..."

"Watcha rats whispering about?" Bruce drew closer and closer. He was like an executioner approaching the guillotine. Soon, three heads will be rolling on the floor.

"Guess we gotta make run for it, too?" Jaiden didn’t have any other bright ideas in mind. Bryan did the right thing to escape before the demon awakened.

"Running is cool and all,” Nash said. “But, how we gonna get past this dude? He’s kinda blocking the exit.”

"Well, that's the tricky part, isn't it?" Jaiden had a difficult expression. There was one easy way to pull it off, but it required a sacrifice. Somebody will become a decoy to distract Bruce while the other two make their escape.

However, that'll put the decoy in immense danger. Jaiden had no problem doing it himself if push came to shove, but there had to be another way. A way in which nobody will get into trouble.

But, is there really such a way? Jaiden’s eyes zigzagged around the entire room, desperately searching for something, anything, that could help. Then, he noticed Raymond. The big captain was heading in their direction.

"Hey, cap!” Jaiden called out. “Send some help over here! Please!"

"Huh?" Bruce stopped in his tracks and shot a sharp glare at Raymond. "Stay out of it, bruh. I don't wanna punch you too." 

"Enough," Raymond spoke sharply, unlike his usual self. Even the eternal pacifist was getting mad at this development.

Good, good. Jaiden nodded. I think we’re saved.

"Hey, I ain’t doing anything wrong. I’m just asking this junior to do his job," Bruce's voice lost some of its hostility. He was visibly flustered in Raymond's presence. "I was being nice all, ya know? I offered him to play Support for a pro player like me, but he refused in my face. Can you believe that shit?" 

"It's his own decision," Raymond said.

"Wait a second there. You said we gotta sub somebody in, right? This guy plays Support, so he gotta do it." 

"Only if he agrees to do it," Raymond corrected. "We can't force anybody to play." 

"Goddamit, bro. This weak ass attitude is why nobody respects you as the cap,"  Bruce sneered. "Ya can't just let people do whatever the hell they want." 

That's rich. Jaiden thought. I can’t believe that’s coming from the very guy who abused Raymond's passiveness to terrorize the club.

"Rio, why do you not want to sub in?" Raymond asked calmly, ignoring Bruce's criticism.

"I, um," Rio stole a nervous glance at Bruce. "I don't want to play with this asshole." Hmm. I wonder, how fast will I die after saying something like that? It’ll probably take Burce about three seconds to close the distance between us. Then, one punch from him and I'm dead. So, I'd have at most four seconds to live. Let's not do that.

"I want to play with my friends," Rio went for the other main reason.

"Aww, you," Nash smiled and patted Rio’s back.

"Well, that's how it is," Jaiden stepped in to negotiate in Rio’s stead.

"What the hell?" Bruce grimaced. "Bruh, are you five? This is a scrimmage we're talking about. An official match, ya dig? It's not about what you want, it's about what the team needs. So c'mon, step up, junior."

"He said he doesn't want to," Jaiden repeated. "Besides, I suspect you two won't mesh together well."

"Well duh,” Bruce agreed. “I'll probably have to work extra hard because his supporting will trash."

Nah, it’s just a compatibility issue. Jaiden retorted in his mind. Your way of playing is way too reckless. Rio isn’t Bryan, so he won’t sacrifice himself to save your butt after every dumb play you make.

"But still," Bruce continued. "We need five players. Even if that guy gonna be useless, at least he can be a meat shield or something, right?. C'mon, am I alone here with common sense or what? C'mon Dyl, you tell them too... huh?"

Bruce blinked multiple times as he scanned the room. Dylan was nowhere to be found. Did he hit the toilet? Yeah, that was probably it...

"Oh, ya searching for Dylan?" Nash grinned. "Dude snuck out a little while ago, right after Bryan." 

"What...?" Bruce failed to process this incomprehensible report.

"He had this look of a sad bruh who got fed up with your bull- ack!" An elbow hit Nash in the rib, warning him against saying the rest. "Anyway, Dyl is gone."

"What the-!?” Bruce raged. “If you saw him, why didn’t you stop him!?" 

"I gave Dylan permission to leave," Raymond said matter-of-factly. "He said he'd like to sit this one out because he was underperforming."

"Well yeah, he sure as hell was underperforming," Bruce spit. "But, that ain't no reason to let him step down." 

“I didn’t see any problem with it, so I approved,” Raymond said. “We got enough subs.”

“That’s not...” Bruce experienced a sudden shudder. Wait a fuckin’ second here. If both B and Dyl are gone, then...

He looked around nervously. The only one still left from his gang was Zeph, who was busy brooding over his crappy performance. Zeph only joined Bruce’s gang recently, so it wasn’t clear how much the guy will support anything Bruce will do from here on out.

In other words, Bruce was practically alone here. He was like the captain of a sinking ship whose crewmen jumped ship. They abandoned Bruce to let him sink alone.

“Them ungrateful bastards...!” Bruce gritted his teeth. Did they forget it’s all thanks to me that we got to play on the stage today!? If I didn’t work my ass off for everybody, we’d never make it this far. Damn it all!

What was Bruce even supposed to do now? On whom was he supposed to unleash all this bottled anger!? He legit wanted to punch the shit outta everybody in the room right now! Gaaaaaaaaah!!!

“Enough already,” Raymond grasped Bruce’s wrist, right before the loaded punch had a chance to strike anybody.

“Don’t touch me, bitch!” Bruce shoved Raymond away with all his strength, but it was no use. It was like trying to move a freakin’ wall. This son of a golem weighted at least a few tons!

“Can we please not turn this into a fight?” Raymond asked. He didn’t want to resort to violence. But, at this rate, Bruce might force his hand

This was no longer a situation in which Raymond could keep quiet and watch from the sideline. He had to assert himself as the captain, or else the situation will take a nasty turn.

"Fuck, what is even..." Bruce’s teeth rattled. He was abandoned. This was a sinking ship and he was the captain of it. The other crewmen were gone. Only Zeph remained, but the guy was just absent-mindedly staring into the empty air.

Yeah, that piece of shit ain’t gonna do anything for me. Bruce thought. He knew all too well why Zeph would join this gang.

Zeph's ulterior motive was getting into the first string. Yeah, getting into the first string, the very goal Bruce worked so hard to secure this entire time... 

Already as a junior, Bruce figured that he, Bryan, and Dylan weren't exactly the top players of their generation. It became apparent that, even once they hit their third year of middle school, they might still not get to play on the first-string. Others will steal all their spots.

"It can't be helped,” Bryan said to that. “That's how this system works."

“Yep,” Dylan agreed. “If they're better, they're better."

That's the sort of lame-ass responses the two gave whenever Bruce brought up the topic. They resigned themselves to their fate. They were fine with merely warming the bench during their last year of middle school. 

Nah, it was a fat ass lie. Burce knew it all. Same as him, his bros wanted to play on the competitive stage. They've been busting their asses off during club practice, training for hours three times a week. On top of that, they sometimes played Classmancers after school too.

All that blood and sweat had to mean something. They didn’t train so hard just to warm the bench in their last year. That ain’t fair.

Nevertheless, Bryan and Dylan didn’t show any intention of fighting for their spots. They talked about training harder to secure these spots, but they knew it was just empty talk.

There were many talented players in the club, so no spot was guaranteed for anybody. No matter how hard Bryan and Dylan worked, they might not get in. That’s why Bruce took matters into his own hands.

Stuff like “working hard” was a nice slogan, but it meant didn’t mean jack shit when there when the competition was this fierce. Only the top of the top could make it in. Or, those who established their presence within the club to the point nobody could deny them entry to the first-string.

Bruce focused on the latter. He became a demon who terrorized all his competitors. Intimidation, verbal abuse, and even violence. Bruce did everything that was neccessary to establish himself within the club.

After he taught people a lesson or two, nobody dared to speak against him. It was awesome. He successfully made it clear to everybody that he was running things around here. Bruce was the boss in these parts.

Everybody came to see him as the unofficial captain of the team. At the very least, it felt like his word carried more weight than Raymond's. If anything, because Raymond didn't speak much in the first place.

Honestly, Bruce had to turn into quite the scumbag in order to achieve all that. Bryan and Dylan even protested against his extreme methods a few times, claiming he went too far.

Admittedly, Bruce also questioned himself many times along the way. He even considered quitting mid-way.

But, he couldn't. Bruce wished to play on the first-string alongside his homies, to set foot on the competitive stage. It was going to be their last year of middle school, so their blood and sweat had to pay off.

Reluctantly, his pals joined his cause along the way. It transformed from a solo operation into gang activity.

It was clear that Bryan and Dylan weren't entirely on board with this, so Bruce had to steel his heart in their steads. He was the godfather of this little mafia, so he had to act the part.

Them godfather characters in movies were always cold-blooded scumbags who didn’t flutter no matter who they faced. Bruce had to become just like them. He had to be unyielding in his conviction and not show anybody any signs of hesitation.

And so, that's exactly what Bruce became. He turned into a gangster nobody dared to object against. Even his pals seemed a little wary of him at times. Well, maybe he really acted a little too hard sometimes. But, it was all just an act.

Or, was it? After roleplaying as the godfather for so long and committing so many questionable acts, even Bruce couldn't tell anymore. Did he do all these things himself? Or, was it just the role he was playing?

The line between the two became blurry. Everything got entangled and became one. Bruce was getting drunk on his own power, becoming the bold godfather he was pretending to be all along.

But, there was no reason to be concerned about that. At least, that’s what he told himself. Honestly, he never even stopped to think about this topic too much until today.

Or, maybe he just pushed these difficult thoughts to the back of his head. He was too afraid to take off the lid and check what was inside him. Did he cross the line? Did he become a delinquent? 

None of that mattered. Even if he lost the ability to distinguish between his roleplay and reality, and even if his friends were growing wary of him, it was all fine. All that mattered was that he and his homies got to play on the first-string. They were planning to kick some serious ass on stage today!

But, it all went to shit. Bruce's fists trembled. I mean, sure. We got here. We played on that damn stage. We did all the hot stuff. But...

They suffered two embarrassing defeats in a row. It tore them apart. Bruce couldn't stand it.

What did he work so hard for? For what purpose did he act like a scumbag godfather? For what? For this? For this bitter feeling that made him feel like a sack of shit? For these embarrassing defeats that turned them into a laughingstock in front of the audience?

I feel like I’m having some sort of nightmare. Bruce thought. This shit ain’t real.

What’s with everybody’s performance today? Shit was embarrassing. They were like a bunch of Bronze players matched against Diamonds. That's how freakin’ bad it was.

So, naturally, Bruce had to lecture his pals. He had to tell them exactly how hard they fucked up. They gotta fix up that shit ASAP. They didn’t work so hard to get here just to screw over like this.

So, that's why Bruce had to make them snap out of it. He gave them the facts straight. “Y’all playing like trash today." That’s the message he tried to drill into them.

But, they didn't want to listen, and now they were gone. They abandoned the godfather who worked his ass off to bring these scrubs all the way up here. These ungrateful fucks!

I'mma kick their asses once I find them! All of 'em! BAM. Bruce unleashed all his fury with a lightning speed punch. His target? Nobody in particular. Just the sheer whiteness spreading in front of him, the wall.

"Fuck. This. Shit!" Bruce punched and punched, channeling all his anger into his fists. 

"Please don't break things," Raymond spoke.

"Tch, whatever," Bruce clicked his tongue and turned away. His best friends were gone, so he had no business here either. It was pointless to keep playing by himself.

"I quit too," Bruce stomped out of the room. "You wanted to play with your friends? Well, now’s your chance. You got three empty spots on the team. Just don’t come crying to me after you get your ass whooped."

"Heh, just ya watch!" Nash grinned confidently. "We gonna take them by storm!" 

"Yeah, leave it to us," Jaiden nodded. "We'll avenge you guys." 

"Heh, avenge us?" Bruce sneered. "Good luck with that."

That's some confidence these kids have. Bruce thought as he closed the door behind him. This is dumb. It's like we’re giving them a ticket for the first-string. It took us so much work to get here, but these mofos waltz in like it’s nothing. Ain't that just BS?

Honestly, he wanted to see Stratus crush Jaiden and the gang. That’s how it should go, right? Because, if Jaiden’s group actually happens to win...

"Bah, no point thinking about that shit," Bruce shook his head. He'll just watch the game once it starts. But first, he gotta find his dear friends... and beat the living crap outta them!

And so, Taurus’ internal struggle came to an end. Bruce, Bryan, and Dylan all relinquished their spots for now. Instead, Jaiden, Nash, and Rio subbed in. The three juniors were about to shake up the entire scrimmage!