“Seriously?” Pepper asked while letting out a sigh.

  “I know right? That was epic!” Zeklor replied while he shifted his weight on the couch.

  He rolled his eyes and motioned with his head towards the holoscreen. “No not the match.”

  He flipped his holodex screen around to showcase to his friend the latest meme he had been tagged in. It was yet another poorly edited photo of him on the gladiator platform. His pose was of the exact moment he physically motioned Mala’s energy beam attack. His body had been transposed onto an image of a giant pipe being burst open with water spraying out. The caption was nothing more than a small white text bubble with the words, call the plumber, cause I’m about to burst these pipes!

  “It doesn’t even make sense!” Pepper emphasized through a sigh.

  “Could be worse… at least they stopped cropping you into those images porta-john memes. You know the porta-bomb ones where you-”

  He immediately cut his friend off. “Yeah, yeah… I know which ones you’re referring to. You don’t need to remind me.” He took a second to breathe and shook his head. “I had to block over a hundred people who just get spamming me with nothing but those stupid memes. It’s like, hey… I never agreed to be your poster child for memes guys!”

  Marcus then chuckled. “Yeah... but you certainly didn’t have a problem selling those pearly whites, your big smile now plastered all across the world letting people know you love that Big D 12 incher.”

  Pepper’s hand balled into a fist, and he felt his anger rise up. “The can isn’t even a full 12 inches in length, anyways! It is a solid… and I mean solid 8 inches. And!” He took a long deep breath and tried to regain his composure. “…If I had known that Ryan was going to use those images like that. I would have never agreed to the photoshoot.”

  The others were trying to container their laughter and Zeklor nodded over to Marcus, who sat across from him. “You weren’t kidding. He really does get worked up over it all.”

  “He’s still struggling with the fandom, but I think he’ll come around to it.” Marcus began to rise from his seat and headed towards the kitchen.

  “What fandom?” Pepper questioned. He flipped through his screen options until he got back to his Golem Chat messages. “See, listen to this. ‘A warlock energy bomb? Someone’s a spoiled little princess, how about you use a common rune like the rest of us, and then let’s see how you do!’ Or this one… ‘You’re pathetic, your build is trash and your stupid black clay is trash.’

  A large sigh came from the kitchen. “Oh my gosh P-Dub… why do you always focus on the negative?” Marcus closed the refrigerator door and took a quick sip from the bottle of water he had just grabbed.

  “I’m not-”

  Pepper didn’t get a chance to finish as Marcus cut him off. “’Congrats Pepper! I love watching all your matches and can’t wait to see you climb the ranks.’ Or… “Hey Pepper, I love the detail you put into Mala. Best looking Tiger in the league! Can’t wait to see what you come up with next.’”

  Pepper tried again to cut in. “Yeah but-”

  Marcus continued to not concede and continued. “’I loved how you dominated Tamin in your match. He did some shady stuff in the PNW invitational. Thanks for making him pay.’ And… ‘I started following you when I first saw your Big D energy ads. You’ve certainly improved in your fighting techniques from your early matches at the KBVS. Keep doing you and you’ll be up in the Pantheon in no time.”

  Marcus finally paused and Pepper let out a sigh. “Oh yeah, Pantheon is totally messaging me and wanting me to-”

  “Pepper!” Marcus aggressive tone caused him to turn and look at his roommate standing at the entrance to the living room. “Seriously man, you’re being more sour than a lemon. I would have never achieved what I did here at the invitational if it wasn’t for you. Squints would have never come out of his shell and be social if it wasn’t for you…”

  Wilson immediately added as soon as Marcus paused. “Facts.”

  Marcus practically leapt out of his skin as he spun around and saw Wilson had quietly arrived and was standing directly behind him. “Dude… seriously? A little warning next time Squints.”

  “Sorry.”

  Marcus returned his attention to Pepper. “P-Dub, you went from over 11,000 followers before the invitational to over 18,000 followers. You have people following you every day. Sure, there may be some bad eggs mixed into the group. The fact is that you can’t keep looking at the negative. You’re now in the SEC Regional Golem League. Mala isn’t the only thing that is going to have tough skin, but you’re going to need it also. Especially if you keep letting it blind you from all of the positive things that are going for you.”

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  The room was so quiet he could hear a pin drop. He glanced around the room and couldn’t help but notice that everyone had taken a moment to reflect on Marcus’s words. The reminder was one they all needed to hear as they each had a new road ahead of them.

  “You’re right… thanks Marcus. I’m gonna miss having you around to keep me straight.” Pepper stood up and walked over to his roommate and gave him a hug.

  “Alright… it’s time for me to head out.” Marcus turned around and gave a small hug to Wilson. “Good luck Squints. Try not to smash too many more keyboards huh?”

  “No promises.” Came the monotone reply.

  Marcus reached down and gave Amprage a pat on his metal head and his familiar also said a goodbye. The two opened the door and proceeded to leave. Marcus’s new guild deal left him relocating to Maine where they were based out of. The roar of his new truck came to life a few minutes later. Pepper watched through the kitchen window as his friend backed out of the driveway and slowly drove off.

  Pepper shifted his gaze over to Wilson and it was then he noticed the small backpack seated along the wall. “You’re heading out too?”

  Wilson nodded. “My flight got bumped up.”

  There was a slight pull on his heart as the reality set in. “How long was that flight to Japan again? 14 hours.”

  “14 hours and 21 minutes to be exact. Don’t worry… I have an audiobook to keep me company. That and this bad boy…” Wilson paused and then retrieved the ultra rare halo holographic Panda Cakes TCG card from an inside chest pocket. The high reflective service glistened in the light within the 2 inch thick plastic protective case Wilson had put it in.

  “There it is.” Pepper swallowed and he still had an ounce of regret for letting go of the high valued card. “That… gorgeous 60,000 Flex valued card.”

  Wilson didn’t even flinch as he shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, it’s jumped in value. It’s worth is now closer to 75,000 Flex now.”

  “Who would have thought?” He regretfully chuckled. His eyes caught the movement outside and he noticed the Buzz Podz arrive at the street. “Looks like your ride is here. You need help with anything?”

  Wilson shook his head. “I’ve got it.” Wilson turned towards the front door and took a deep breath. “I came to realize I need to take a more active approach in my life. I can’t just really on others and need to do things on my own.” Wilson placed the card back in his inner chest pocket and dual strapped his backpack and synched it down tight. His hand tapped on the area where the card was securely nested within his coat. “Come on Panda Cakes… we got this.”

  Wilson gave Pepper a hug and he walked his roommate to the door. It was an odd feeling to see the two roommates depart. Though their time together was shorter than 2 months, Pepper couldn’t help but think back over all they had gone through together. He took a moment to internally latch on to the good times they had shared together.

  When he turned around and saw Zeklor still seated on the couch, his mind shifted to what new chapter awaited him. “What time did we need to be at the arena again?”

  Zeklor tapped his holodex open to check the time. “We should probably leave here in about 10 minutes. There’s no telling what traffic we may run into.” Thankfully Zeklor had a small old pickup truck and gave them a ride to the arena. Pepper couldn’t help but notice that the area looked like a ghost town in comparison to when the invitational was going on.

  They were directed over to a small parking lot on the far end of the arena. A few vehicles scattered throughout the area left Pepper believing they were parking next to the normal staff who worked full time at the arena. The front face of the side building was roughly three stories tall of glass panels. A high reflective shine with a mirrored coating on the windows only added to the professional appearance.

  There was a small access door with the words “Staff Entrance” plastered across it. Pepper reached for the door but was startled when it opened up and a shorter woman stepped out. She greeted them with a large beaming smile.

  Pepper didn’t recognize her at first, but then realized he had received his SEC invitational briefing from her. “Bobbi, was it?”

  Her smile gleamed slightly. “Yeah! Bobbi Coleman. Great memory.” She quickly formed a playful and excited expression, “Pepper Walker and…”

  Zeklor answered for her, “Derek Atwater.”

  She shook her head. “Of course. Well welcome you guys. Come on in.”

  She held the door open for them and the two slowly stepped through the entrance to take in the area. Pepper couldn’t help but fixate on the crystal art piece that was suspended in the center of the room. It was a portrayal of two golems fighting within an area.

  There were multiple spotlights that had been installed in the far corners of the room, but pointed direct towards the crystal shards. Pepper could see that whoever had designed the display had precisely measured out exactly where each spotlight needed to be. The crystals and lights perfectly balanced to hit the shards at the perfect angle. A vibrant cast of colors radiated throughout the room and coated the walls and floor all around them.

  There was a gleam coming off the walls. Large plates of sleet gray marble were set from the ceiling to the floor. Placed vertically so the natural pattern within the stone ran vertically. The stones left Pepper feeling a sense of calm as the smooth and cool texture only added to the elegance within the room.

  He looked down and noticed the black marble floor underneath them. There were specks of what appeared to be gold flakes scattered throughout the design. Holy crap… Pepper thought as he took in the room. High end luxury furniture filled the area with two desks set at the far end of the room. Behind the desks was a security guard and seated directly next to him was a young woman who appeared to be some type of administrative assistant.

  “Alright… clearly this is the waiting welcome and waiting room. You won’t have to come in this way whenever you come to the arena, but this is the closest entrance to the administrative offices. That and if you ever have any business meetings or guests who are coming to visit you, they need to check in with Janet.”

  Bobbi paused as she turned and pointed to the young woman sitting behind the front desk countertop. She politely waved and smiled and then returned to focusing on her work. “That is also one of our security guards Carl. I think he job is pretty self-explanatory. But, Thomas is our security director and you’ll have a meeting with him in a little bit to get your holodex’s coded with the appropriate key access to the arena doors.”

  The three paused in the area, but once it was clear that they had took it all in Bobbi waved them forward. “Okay, follow me. Lot’s to see.” She smiled and headed for the next set of doors.