The four friends were enjoying a Perim Pizza with all the fixings and discussing new battle strategies.

"I'm going to need a new Maxxor scan soon," said Tom.

"I need a new one for Chaor," said Kaz. "It's been a while. He might have learned a new attack"

"Like it's going to make a difference against me," said Tom.

"Really?" asked Kaz. "Last time I checked you lost your last Underworlder match."

"Maxxor can wipe the floor with Chaor," said Tom.

"Boys!" said Sarah. "Enough already. We go through this at least once a week. It gets monotonous."

"I see something that's far from the mundane," said Peyton. He was staring across the Port Court.

Tom, Kaz, and Sarah turned to see what he was looking at. A girl around their age was standing next to the young man who was deemed the hottest hottie in Chaotic: Simon a.k.a. Simon the Conqueror. He was tall, muscular with dark hair slicked back and dark eyes. Sarah and every other girl in Chaotic might have been looking at Simon, but the entire male population had their eyes on his girlfriend, the beautiful "WarriorQueen" Boudica. She was a bit muscular in the arms with flaming red hair that came to her waist and pale green eyes. Her skin was sun kissed and she always wore a bright colored shirt.

"Oh, wow," breathed Kaz. Then he looked away. "I don't have a chance with a girl like that."

"Same here," said Tom.

"Ditto, bro," agreed Peyton.

"She is so lucky," said Sarah. "Could you imagine what would happen if they ever broke up? It would be every girl for herself to get Simon."

"And it would be a free-for-all for Boudica," said Tom.

"Hey, there might be trouble in paradise," said Peyton. "Look."

They looked over to see Simon trying to kiss Boudica. She gave him the cheek and she went on her way.

"Simon does not look happy about that," said Tom.

"I'm going to head for Underworld City," said Kaz. "See what news H'earing has for me. I'll see you guys later."

Kaz 'ported to Underworld City and walked to H'earing's.

"Hey, H'earing, are you home?" he asked. No answer. "I got a treat for you."

The upstairs window burst open.

"Treat?" asked H'earing. "What did you bring me, Kazzie?"

"Tacos," said Kaz. He pulled out a paper bag full of the Port Court's tacos.

H'earing disappeared from the window and practically materialized in front of Kaz. He took the bag and began shoving a taco into his mouth.

"Yum! These are good," said H'earing.

"So what's new in the Underworld?" asked Kaz.

"Not much," said H'earing. "Tensions are running high between Von Bloot and Chaor."

"Nothing new there," said Kaz. "Those two are always fighting."

"Ulmar's working on some new battle gear," said H'earing. "It's still in the making. We'll have to wait a few days before you try to scan it."

"Great," said Kaz. "Just in time for my match against HotShot. That jerk won't know what hit him. He should have never challenged me to a rematch."

"There's also a festival to celebrate to victory over the M'arrillians," said H'earing. "It's tomorrow if you want to come or if you want to avoid it. Underworlders from all around are coming here to celebrate. I know that you have some enemies down here."

"Thanks for the heads up, H'earing," said Kaz.

"So what's new in Chaotic?" asked H'earing.

"Same old same old," said Kaz.

"I know you better than that, Kaz," said H'earing, narrowing his eyes. "Something's bothering you."

"It's something stupid," said Kaz. "I know when I'm beat."

"Kaz? Giving up?" asked H'earing. "That doesn't sound like you. You never gave up on a scan that you really wanted."

"It's not a scan," Kaz admitted.

"A match?" asked H'earing.

"It's not a match either," said Kaz.

"Then what?" asked H'earing.

Kaz felt his cheeks get warm. "A girl," he said, not realizing that the words were out of his mouth until he saw H'earing's already big blue eyes grow bigger. "Me and my big mouth. Don't you dare say anything about this to anyone, do you hear me? This conversation that's about to take place is between us."

"Do tell, Kaz," said H'earing. "I'm all ears. So who is this girl?"

"Her name's Boudica," Kaz said. "She's a great player, but that's about all I know about her. I'm too scared to talk to her."

"Why's that?" asked H'earing.

"She's really pretty, H'earing," said Kaz. "No, that's a poor choice of words. On a scale of one to ten, ten being gorgeous, Boudica would be a twenty. I don't stand a chance. Even if I did, I doubt she would leave the guy she's seeing. He's perfect."

"What's he got that you don't?" asked H'earing.

"Looks, muscles, and I would bet money that he's got a football scholarship to any school of his choice," said Kaz. "Me; I'm in the top ten for almost all my classes. I'm a complete geek. Why would she want to be around someone like me?"

"Couldn't you just ask to be her friend?" asked H'earing.

"I could," said Kaz. "But rumor has it that her boyfriend has a nasty temper." Kaz looked at his feet for a moment and then turned to H'earing. "This conversation never happened."

"Yes, sir," said H'earing with a salute.

Kaz smiled. "Thanks, H'earing."

Kaz returned to Chaotic and was heading for the Imthor Drome when suddenly someone ran into him. Both players went tumbling to the ground. Kaz's glasses were knocked off his face.

"Watch where you're going!" he snapped as he groped for his glasses.

"So sorry," said a girl. "Here." She handed Kaz his glasses.

Kaz put his glasses on. His eyes got big when he saw who ran into him.

"WarriorQueen," he stammered. She was even more gorgeous up close! Kaz felt himself growing dizzy and quickly looked away from her. "Sorry."

"I ran into you," said Boudica. "No worries."

She got to her feet and held out her hand to Kaz. Kaz took it and she pulled him to his feet. She was strong as well!

"It's KidChaor, isn't it?" she asked.

"You can call me Kaz," he said.

"You can call me Boudica," she said. She smiled.

"Boudica!"

"Oh," Boudica groaned. "I was hoping that I lost him back by the Hotekk Drome."

Simon came stalking up to them. He glared at Kaz and stepped to Boudica's side, putting his arm around her waist.

"Is this guy bothering you?" he asked.

"No," said Boudica, removing the unwanted hand from her waist. "He is not. We were just talking."

"Just talking, huh?" said Simon still glaring at Kaz. He turned to Boudica. "I have a match. Come watch it."

"Simon, I've seen your matches," said Boudica. "If one watched them like I do, they would have seen your flaws in your strategy long already. You would no longer be such a hotshot when it comes to Chaotic."

Simon smiled at her. "You are such a tease, my queen," he said and he kissed her on the forehead. "I will see you after my victory." With that he walked away to meet his opponent.

Boudica rolled her eyes. "He is so full of himself," she said. She turned to Kaz. "Sorry about that. He's possessive to the point of being obsessive."

"So there is trouble in paradise," Kaz said.

"Oh, there's been trouble," said Boudica. She glanced around. "There are way too many players here. Can we finish this conversation somewhere else?"

"Sure," said Kaz. "I know this very quiet place in the Underworld. It's where the water comes down from the Overworld and you can see the sky, but no one above can see you."

"Sounds great," said Boudica. "I know where that place is. That's the same place where the Stelgar incident took place, right? I'll meet you there. I need to pick up something first."

Kaz went to the Port Court and 'ported to the place they agreed to meet. He waited ten minutes, then fifteen, then twenty.

"She's probably not going to come," he said to himself. "You should have known that she would trick you."

"Who would trick you?"

Kaz looked behind him to see Boudica carrying a paper bag. She sat down on the rocks. Kaz sat down beside her.

"I thought we could use a snack," she said, opening the paper bag. Boudica pulled out a cinnamon roll and handed the bag to Kaz. "Help yourself."

"Thanks," said Kaz, pulling out one for himself. "So what's with Simon? I thought he was supposed to be this perfect guy."

"Far from it," said Boudica. "He's very insecure. His parents have a lot of money and he goes to this snooty private school for rich people. People respect him because he has money and he knows it. Right now, he's on the verge of being cut off. If he loses out on everything, I'm his meal ticket for respect, so to speak. He's just using me for publicity. I know he's going to dump me once he secures his finances. Until then, I'm the trophy that he has and everyone else wants."

"Well that's self-centered and completely selfish," said Kaz. "You deserve better than that."

"I know," said Boudica. "And you haven't heard what's been going on between us. Simon's a total control freak. I'm not supposed to leave his side unless one of us has a match. I can't go on a scan quest without him. I haven't seen much of my friends here in Chaotic since we started going out. You saw how he looked at you. If anyone talks to me without his permission, he'll tell them off or worse."

"Does he beat you?" asked Kaz.

"No, never," said Boudica. "I never saw him do it, but I know he will beat someone if they even look at me funny."

Boudica leaned against the rocks so she could look up at the sky.

"This place reminds me of the Cave of Swallows," said Boudica. She sighed. "I miss being able to run around Perim without worrying what people thought of me. I would play with some of the children in the meadows and go swimming with them. Some of the older children would ask me to race them and skip stones in the lakes. I showed them how to make whistles out of willow branches. One of the older boys showed me how to shoot using a slingshot. That all stopped when Simon came along."

"Did you have a lot of friends in Perim?" asked Kaz.

"Many," replied Boudica. "Most of the Creatures weren't very happy with a human being around all the time. They would sneak out of the village and find me. We would play until dusk and there were a few times we would play after that." She sighed. "They are probably angry with me for leaving and not coming back."

"If you're so unhappy with Simon, why do you stay with him?" asked Kaz. "You deserve better than him."

"Like you?" asked Boudica. She looked over and smiled at him.

"Well, I . . . um . . . I was just going to ask if we could be, uh, just friends?" Kaz could have slapped himself for such an unsmooth moment.

"That's fine," said Boudica. "Unless you want it to be friends with benefits."

"Really?" asked Kaz.

"If you're not ready for a girlfriend, that's fine with me," said Boudica. "With what's going on with Simon, I'm not sure that I want another boyfriend."

Kaz smiled. "Just friends it is," he said. "Benefits can come later."

Boudica laughed. "You're funny," she said.

"Not really," said Kaz. "Peyton's the clown of my friends."

"I wouldn't mind meeting them," said Boudica. "Can we just wait until after I break it off with Simon?"

"Sure," said Kaz. "But why?"

"His temper," said Boudica. "We can be friends, but let's keep things on the down low until he has a chance to cool off."

"Yeah, that's not a problem," said Kaz. "I can still say hi to you in Chaotic, right?"

"Right," said Boudica. "It'll probably be safer if we meet in Perim."

"Okay," said Kaz. He thought for a moment. "Boudica?"

"Hm?"

"The Underworld is having a festival to celebrate the defeat of the M'arrillians," said Kaz.

"After the Perithon mess?" asked Boudica. "Seems like a good idea."

"I was wondering if you would like to go with me," said Kaz. "It'll give you a chance to avoid Simon."

Boudica didn't answer right away. She wrinkled her nose in thought. "That sounds like a good idea. I'll break up with him today and then we'll have a chance to hang out without having to worry about him wrecking our day."

"You're going to break up with him today?" asked Kaz.

"Why not?" asked Boudica. "I want to be with my friends, not some control freak." She got to her feet and brushed herself off. "Where and when do you want to meet tomorrow?"

"I have a friend in Underworld City," said Kaz. "Do you know the row house two streets over from the market street? It's three streets from the pub. There's one home that's a miniature of all the others."

"Yeah, that's H'earing's house, right?" asked Boudica. "I have a scan of him that I got when he wasn't looking."

"Right, I'll meet you there around lunchtime," said Kaz.

"Okay," said Boudica. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kaz."

Boudica pulled her scanner out and 'ported away.

"Kaz, you are so lucky," he said to himself. "How am I going to hide this from the others?"