“My duo cheating on me and seeking out others—unforgivable,” Jackson groans as he joins the call.

I sigh, leaning back in my chair. “Ignore him; he’s just salty because I’ve been putting him in the dirt on repeat.” Glancing at the call, I notice cookieslayer is muted. “See? You made her mute, Drew,” Jackson says with a laugh. I ignore him and send Jackson an invite to the lobby. “Anyways, cookie, what’s your ID?”

There’s a pause before she unmutes. “Oh, uh… what rank are you guys?” Jackson bursts out laughing. “Hah, we’re both Emerald.” She hesitates, then replies, “Oh, so I’ll have to switch to my alt. Then we can play.”

She mutes again, and a second later I get a DM from her: Cooki3slayer#613. I give it a thumbs-up and send her a friend request, which she accepts almost instantly. I send her the invite, and as soon as she joins the lobby, I ask, “Trios or squads?”

“Trios, if that’s alright with everyone,” Cookie says, and Jackson says, “No matter, I’ll carry.” I roll my eyes. “Alright, decided—let’s play trios. And Jackson…” I let the silence speak for itself.

Jackson scoffs. “Just ’cause I can’t beat you doesn’t mean I can’t farm those kids.” I laugh under my breath. “Sure thing, buddy. Ready up.” The queue pops and we load in; Cookie locks in support, and I tell her.

“The clips you sent were really good, Cookie,” I say, locking in my usual setup..

“Yeah,” Jackson adds quickly, “me and Drew have been hunting for a good support—a rare breed, since everyone wants to run assault.” I raise an eyebrow. “Then why don’t you support yourself?” He laughs like I just walked right into a trap.

“The world would lose the best assault player alive. Can’t do that to NA.” I shake my head. “If that’s true, we’re already doomed.”

The game spawns us in. “Lock in,” I say.

“Of course. Time to prove why I’m the best,” Jackson replies, and Cookie unmutes with a sheepish laugh. “Sorry for being muted, guys… thanks, Drew.”

“No problem,” I reply, taking point as we move forward and enter the building.

Far into the building’s interior, I spot the enemy team. “Be careful—they’ve got two assault classes and one healer,” I warn. Breaking my spear in half, I grip one in each hand and advance. The enemies lock eyes with me: one assault fades into invisibility while the other and the support charge forward, the support firing bullets.

I block the bullets with my arms, forming an X in front of me as Cookie boosts me forward. “Thanks,” I say. She doesn’t reply.

“I’ll handle the invisible guy,” Jackson says, disappearing as me and Cookie are left to our own devices.

“We have to be careful— that assault has swords,” Cookie says, positioning herself directly behind me.

“Don’t worry; they won’t get past me,” I reply, stepping forward. Just then, the assault class in green rushes me, and we clash—dual spear against sword. CLING! I push him back with greater strength, but his support is right behind him, boosting him.

From beside me, I hear movement. “Be careful,” Cookie warns.

“Don’t worry; Jackson’s got it,” I say, and two loud booms echo as Jackson’s bullets strike the cloaked enemy, destroying their camouflage.

“Come on, brother, we gotta do better than that,” Jackson mocks in voice chat as the other assault and support close in. I rush them while Jackson and Cookie handle a 1v2 against the assault, his shield flashing.

“I’ll zone,” I call, throwing one spear at the assault. He dodges, and it flies toward the support. I clash with the assault, but mid-attack, I teleport to my spear. “Peekaboo,” I say, slashing at the support. He reacts too slowly as I land two hits, breaking his shield. Going for the killing blow, the assault strikes me in the back, but I tank it and finish off the support.

“Your turn now, right?” I say, turning to face him.

“Well damn, my lobby’s cooked, huh,” he mutters, dashing away and disappearing into invisibility.

I glance back at Jackson and Cookie as they walk toward me. “Those guys were dogshit, huh?” Jackson says in the call.

“Yeah, I don’t know why that guy rushed us,” I reply as we continue through the building, moving toward the objective.