The Prime

Much ado about winning

Out with the adventure, into the mundane! If only life was a video game... Theo sighed.

Life was as normal as gets for Theo. He had loving parents, an annoying younger sister and lived in a flat in the middle of the city.

17 year old with his head in the skies. He had everything he needed, he reminded himself. Nobody gets everything they want!

He'd been an introvert all his life. Video games and books had taken up almost all his childhood and his teenage years. The Rush kept him exhilarated. It had become his driving fuel.

College was just a few days away... He'd be joining in this weekend! Time certainly flies.. especially when you have no clue what you want to do with your life!

He didn't have much friends in school, and the ones he did have would join colleges much further away. He'd promised to keep in touch.. but he did expect it to last.

People grow, they change... life goes on. College held potential, but he didn't get his hopes up.

Back to the Rush, he thought as he plugged in his favorite video game...

He snuck through the shrubbery sword in hand, his partner Cincinnati and Erb followed him. Another team was right in front of them sitting round a warm fire. There are 4 of them... but he had the advantage of surprise. They surrounded them.

Then Cincinnati drew out her cannon and aimed. Erb prepared to cast his green knot spell to bind them in place. Theo started it off with the distraction. A loud snap as a huge branch collapsed where he'd cut it. The group of 4 stood in alarm and sudeenly found themselves trapped in shrubbery. The cannon let loose just a second later then the snap engulfed them!

Victory! It was onto the next Arena!

The days went by faster then Cincinnati's cannon. His parents dropped him off in hostel. He met his roommate. A wiry kid with glasses, with some common name. He introduced himself as Whizky, apparently short for Whiz Kid.. a nickname from school.

Whizky had been here since 2 years. Apparently he'd been missing a lot of his classes and had an attendance issue but that was all he'd let on.

Theo set his things down. A special event was coming up. He had a chance to win a new character in the Rush. It was a limited time offer and he had no plans to pass it out. He'd formed a strategy to win... a giant boss named Holloren was all that was left to defeat. But try as he might he kept losing. He played over and over uptil the same point. But Holloren had him beat. Holloren was a giant with the special ability to scream (Hollering- hence the name, Theo figured). He'd break down Cincinnati's cannon with a growl. And a single sweep of his arm had Theo flying back into the woods. Erb would pin down his arm, but he'd break it with one good shake. And just when they thought they had a chance, he'd smash into the ground and lower his head in. The scream he made would seismic currents to sweep them off their feet and into wide chasms rendering a Game Over.

Theo finally shut down the game exasperated. A walk in the campus might do him good he thought. It was getting dark. The sun had dived behind the farthest building in the horizon. As he walked on he saw a confident girl strut across campus with her minions in tow. Must be the Queen bee.. thought that only existed in movies. One of the minions caught his eye. She stood out in contrast with her crew. She was just as beautiful, maybe more so but the colours in her companions clothes were in her hair. Her clothes were jet black and if all the colour had been sucked out. Her eyes were intelligent and she nodded gently as she caught him staring.

He sat on a bench and watched lovers roam, sports guys racing past in expensive cars, tech nerds gushing over the latest equipment. He wondered where he'd belong. He just didn't seem to fit.

It was late and he rushed into canteen to find a poor kid being kicked in the guts. A bunch of much bigger guys surrounded him while the Queen bee and her crew snickered from the sides. Theo watched helpless. You know those scenes in the movie where the hero rushes in to help the bullied victim. Theo wished he could rush in but found himself frozen in place. Maybe he had it coming he thought uncomfortably, I don't know the whole story... and I may be their next target. Theo looked away feeling pathetic.

He eyes fell on a girl rushing in palms out wide. She wrapped her arms around him and shielded him. Get lost Diane... Mikey's got it coming one of the boys roared.

Why don't you back off Shane... a stern voice cut through the crowd. The crowd went quiet and suddenly everyone stared right down to the ground. A tall built guy, stepped in. Enough! Everyone get going. People literally ran out of the room. Theo found himself mesmerised. He had to find out who this guy was...