Chapter 34

Before Aubree went back in time, she’d already played tons of matches with four of the Apex Squad members–everyone except Killian–so she knew their playstyles inside and out. Usually, Apex Squad’s support helped them get an early lead on both sides of the map, though it didn’t always work out that way. But now that Carmen was playing mid, it was pretty much guaranteed.

Aubree controlled her champion and, along with the jungler and support, timed a frost spell just right into the bush.

One of the commentators said, “Looks like both teams are starting off normally. God’s Fury’s new mid, Phoenix, just threw her second ability into the bush. Well, it looks empty. Wait a second–Wolfshade’s moving toward it.”

Right after he said it, Carmen walked straight into the bush and got frozen on the spot. In a flash, the jungler and support jumped out and attacked her.

“First blood!” the game announced. The crowd went quiet for half a second, then the whole place blew up with cheers.

The commentators got loud too. “Perfect timing! First blood in under a minute–this might be the fastest one we’ve ever seen!”

The other added, “Was that just luck? If not, then God’s Fury’s new midsolo is seriously scary.”

Carmen’s face went stiff as she stared at her gray screen. Dying so early, she could already imagine all the hate comments headed her way.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. ‘It’s fine. It’s just the beginning. If I win this game, I’ll still be the star. I’ll be the first female champ in League of Legends history,’ she thought.

“I’m sorry. That was my fault,” she said over the mic, trying to sound calm.

If it had been anyone else, Apex Squad would’ve torn into them right then. But since it was Carmen, and she had status, they held back and even tried to be nice.

The jungler just said, “Be careful. Don’t hand them more chances.”

But it was already too late. Alvin wasn’t gonna waste that early lead. He charged right into the enemy jungle with Aubree and the support backing him up. The other team was already behind.

Aubree used her deep knowledge of their tactics and played to her own strengths. It was like she had X–ray vision–she kept calling out enemy locations to her teammates. Sometimes her calls were so spot–on that they won fights they hadn’t even planned for.

If this hadn’t been an official tournament, people might’ve thought Phoenix was cheating.

Aubree didn’t hold back on Carmen. Ten minutes into the game, she’d already killed Carmen eight times.

With such a huge lead, Apex Squad couldn’t keep up.

None of them had ever been crushed this hard in a real match. The jungler snapped, “What’s wrong with you? Didn’t I tell you to be careful?”

Carmen was falling apart. She wasn’t some rookie–she’d done pretty well in practice games. But Aubree was on a whole different level. Going up against her, Carmen felt like a total newbie.

The rest of the team lost patience as well. They didn’t care about Carmen’s background anymore. “You’re both girls–how’s the gap this wide?” someone said.

“Isn’t Phoenix also Emery’s sister? Why didn’t we pick her instead?” another said.

Carmen was used to being pampered by the Wilson family. She’d never been yelled at like this. Hearing them go off on her while praising Aubree left and right, she broke.

“Why is it all my fault?” she snapped. “You guys weren’t exactly killing it either. I was getting ganked the whole time–where was the vision? Why didn’t anyone help me?”

That just made things worse. The jungler, who was also the team captain, blew up. “You’ve got some nerve. If you hadn’t fed their midsolo so much, we wouldn’t be in this mess! And what were you doing during that dragon fight? Sleepwalking? Do you need me to remind you why you’re even on this team?”

Carmen’s face twisted with anger. She yanked off her headset and slammed it down.

The camera quickly cut from God’s Fury celebrating to this blow–up on Apex Squad’s side, and the crowd was stunned.

“What’s going on with Apex Squad? Are they falling apart live on stage?” someone asked.

“How’d this Wolfshade even get on the team? She’s terrible.”

“Phoenix is looking really good.”

“Please, she just got lucky that Killian’s not here.”

Aubree had pulled off some amazing plays–stuff that left even the commentators speechless. But a few people still said it was just luck.

Then the coach called for a sub.

In the crowd, Emery watched Carmen throw her tantrum, getting more and more annoyed.

She’d said she wanted to join the team to make friends, but it looked like she was just making enemies. She played badly and still had the nerve to blow up like that, right in front of everyone.

Emery knew Aubree would never act like this. Even if she was treated unfairly, she’d suck it up for the team.

Daxton didn’t care about the match at all. All he saw was Carmen getting yelled at. His face darkened as he turned to Emery. “Is this how your team acts? One loss and they gang up on Carmen, huh? That jungler–fire him after the game. No one gets to bully Carmen.”

Emery almost thought he’d heard wrong. ‘Did Daxton really just say that?’ he thought.

This wasn’t just some random game–this was the finals. Most players dreamed of getting here, and now Daxton wanted him to fire the team captain, all because of Carmen. That was ridiculous.

Trying to hold back his anger, Emery clenched his teeth and said, “Daxton, I know how to run my own team.”

Daxton didn’t back down. “Are you serious right now? Carmen’s getting bullied!”

“She’s getting called out because she messed up,” Emery said, his voice tight. “If she hadn’t handed the enemy so many chances, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“So what?” Daxton snapped.

Emery had hoped Daxton might at least reflect a little, but no, he just kept defending Carmen. “You’re her brother. But don’t talk about her like that. And don’t let me hear it again. If you won’t handle that girl, I will.”

Emery just stared at Daxton, feeling helpless. It didn’t matter what he said–nothing was getting through. To Daxton, if he didn’t always take Carmen’s side, he was in the wrong.

And now Emery got it. This must’ve been what Aubree went through. And not just from Daxton–the entire Wilson family had probably treated her like this.

That thought hardened Emery’s resolve. He was going to bring Aubree back. If she wanted to go pro, he’d clear the way for her.

Back on stage, Killian walked out, and game two kicked off.

Apex Squad fans were all placing their hopes on Killian to turn things around.

Bowen, sitting in the front row, watched the focused Aubree on stage and couldn’t stop smiling. Even though he didn’t understand much about the game, he could tell Aubree was something special.

Ollie let out a low whistle. “That girl’s something else.” As a gamer himself, he could appreciate how good she was.

“Of course. My girl is not bad,” Bowen said, puffing up with pride.

“Your girl?” Ollie raised an eyebrow, half–laughing. Looking at Bowen with such confidence, he doubted Aubree really cared about Bowen.

Meanwhile, the match kept going. In game two, Apex Squad members finally pulled themselves together. With Killian back, things felt way more balanced.

At the ten–minute mark, the two teams clashed again at the dragon pit–the same fight they’d lost badly last game.

The commentator said, “This is huge. Whoever takes the lead here could win it all."

“Now, Phoenix is waiting in ambush, but it looks like Apex Squad spotted her. They’re going in!"

“Oh my! Can this just be luck? All five of Apex Squad’s abilities landed, but Phoenix dodged every single one! Is this the Phoenix rising from the ashes?”

The play stunned not just the commentators but the whole arena.

The crowd went wild. Someone shouted “Phoenix!” and the chant spread until it filled the whole stadium.

After the fight was over, the camera zoomed in on Aubree as she took off her headset. She looked out at the cheering crowd, a slight smile on her face, and said, “I am the best.”