Hey guys! Welcome to Enter the Unknown! Hope you enjoy the story!
There's just a few things I think need to be explained beforehand. First of all, I don't own League or anything league related, all of it's really owned by Riot, etc. etc. Please don't sue me T_T
Secondly, this series will feature mature concepts, ideas, and language throughout the story. If this is not something you're comfortable reading these things in a story, then this story probably isn't for you.
Thirdly, I want to point out that this series isn't your typical series for this site. There are no champions as characters and the story takes place in the real world rather than Runeterra. I love my champ ships as much as the next person, but I wanted to do something original rather than following characters already created. If this is not your thing, I certainly understand.
And finally, if you have any suggestions for improvement or constructive criticisms of my writing, feel free to leave a review or send me a PM. I'd hardly call myself a great writer, and although I do try to create the best stories that I can, I'm nowhere near perfect, (or even good for that matter .-.), so any advice is greatly appreciated!
Aaand, I'll shut up now! Enjoy the story!
- Zaradi
Bzzzzt.
A faint sound at the edge of Tim's subconscious began to stir him from his slumber. The man rolled over, his usual state of tossing and turning to stay in denial that he was waking up, before returning to the rhythmic breathing that was his sleep state.
Bzzzzt.
Again. A soft groan came from his lips, a pleading sound for more sleep, before he finally turned over and grabbed for the buzzing device to see what it wanted from him at the ungodly hour of ten in the morning on his day off.
Bzzzzt.
An incoming call. From Matt.
Usually, Tim categorically rejected incoming calls on his day off, particularly when he was sleeping. His days off were his personal days, days where he could have a haven from the stupidity of the outside world and usually only do exactly what he wanted to do with his life (usually revolving around some video game or another). The outside world tended to just distract him from what made him happy, and so calls were usually met with a swift rejection.
But Matt was different, especially now. Tim picked up the call.
"Matt, how are things?"
"I'm doing fine. Just trying to settle up on a few things. How about you?"
Tim chuckled dryly. "Well it's ten am, so you should know how I'm doing."
The chuckle was echoed from Matt. "Yeah, sorry to wake you from your hibernation. But there's something we really need to talk about. How quickly can you get over to my apartment?"
Tim blinked a little before moving the phone off of his ear to look at the time. "I don't know, how quickly do I need to be there?"
"You're really going to want to hear this."
Tim groaned. He really didn't want to have to run around different places on his day off. "I'll get over there in a half hour."
Matt grunted something that resembled an 'okay' before the call ended.
Tim blinked a few times, unsure of what just happened. Half of his body told him that he should just blow it off and fall back asleep. It certainly sounded a lot more appealing than getting up on his day off and driving down the highway to visit his grieving friend.
But that's what friends were for.
"Is that all I need to do?" Matt asked into his phone, looking out the window of his apartment from his desk chair. It was unfortunate that he had to deal with a little bit of business when he was expecting a friend over any minute now, but life was rather unfortunate at the current moment for him, so he didn't really expect much less.
Matt nodded to the person speaking on the other end of the phone. "Fair enough. I'll get the paperwork filled out to shift primary control of the company over to you so that you can act in my father's stead. If there are any major executive decisions that need to be made that require me to sign some sort of documentation, it can just be e-mailed to me and I'll send it back to you." Matt replied into the phone, standing up and pacing around his apartment, stopping his pacing in front of a mirror.
Matt still wasn't sure what he saw whenever he looked into the mirror. Physically, of course, what was there was obvious for the twenty-two year old man: brown hair cut short and kept clean, hazel eyes, a clean-shaven face, above average height and build, and skin too dark to consider him pale, but also too fair to really consider him tanned. Nothing super extraordinary about him. His demeanor followed suit. His shoulders were broad and straight, holding himself up straight and composed, outwardly confident of himself.
Was this actually how he felt about himself, or was this just what his dad had drilled into him all those nights of "how to present yourself" lessons? He wasn't sure.
A quick rap of knuckles against his door interrupted his train of thought. "I have to go. If there's anything else you need from me you can e-mail me. And thank you again for all your help."
Matt hung up on the call and left his phone on his desk while he got up to go answer the door. His hand rested on the doorknob before a thought crept into his mind, a sly grin matching the thought.
"Matt, I can hear you on the other side of the door. Just open it already." came Tim's annoyed voice to stop any of Matt's scheming.
"Sheesh, sheesh, so cranky." Matt replied casually as he opened the door to be face-to-face with his old friend.
In all reality, he and Tim weren't that different of people. Physically, they had a lot of similarities. Short brown hair, light brown eyes with a face slightly rounder than Matt's. The two were similar in height and build, Tim being maybe an inch shorter than Matt, despite being a year old. If you passed the two of them walking together in a mall or shopping center, you could've thought they were brothers from a glance.
Tim didn't seem amused by the causality of the reply, but didn't seem too annoyed with it either. "If anyone else asked me what you asked me at this time, they'd have received a swift 'fuck off'. You should be honored."
Matt nodded, already being well acquainted with Tim's usual habits. "I'm glad you haven't killed me yet. Maybe there's hope for this visit after all." Matt replied simply, walking further into the room, back towards his desk, and gestured for Tim to sit down. "Coffee? Water?"
Tim shook his head, also electing to stand. "I'm fine, thanks. How are you doing, by the way? Are all the affairs being handled for your dad?"
Matt nodded, remembering the business call he had been on previously. "Yes, most of the business is just being signed over to the board of directors. I'm still being kept as honorary CEO, and receiving the salary and benefits associated with the position, but the board will effectively be running the company in my stead, and they've received a big salary raise to compensate. Other than that most everything has already been taken care of in terms of inheritance. That's actually partially what I wanted to talk to you about."
Tim's eyebrow was raised. Matt could tell that he had his attention. "Oh?" Tim asked, electing to lean against the wall, a crook forming in his knee. "Go on."
Matt sat back down in his office chair, leaning back a little to get comfortable before he started. "As you're perfectly aware, my parents died two weeks ago. Their combined life insurance payouts plus the inheritance gave me a considerable flat sum of cash. I've deposited the vast majority of it away in various savings accounts and investment programs, and supplemented with the income I'll receive from my father's corporation, I can effectively live as free of a life as I so desire without having to work a day more than I want to without ever worrying about not having the money to live the life I want to. In short, I'm freaking loaded now."
Tim chuckled a little at the summary. "Money's all well and good, but it's not super useful if you don't have a use for it. What are you planning to do with it?"
"Oh I have a plan. And the plan is what I really wanted to talk with you about." Matt said, receiving a nod from Tim to continue. "You know what my true passion is. You've played games with me. You've seen me watching games and looking over old VODs of teams playing against each other. I love League and the game and the competitive scene. I want to be a part of it."
"Well now you have all the free time in the world to practice and get on a team." Tim pointed out. Matt smiled, but shook his head.
"I could, but I'd rather make a team than try to join an already existing one." Matt said simply.
Tim's eyebrow raised again. "You're barely Gold elo, ranking wise. No amateur or pro player is going to join a team you're trying to form."
"If I'm trying to play on it, you're absolutely right. But if I'm just funding and managing the team, though…"
"Okay, then maybe you could find some people who would be interest-" Tim started to say, but then stopped, blinking in surprise. Matt could tell he was starting to connect the dots. "You're not going to ask me what I think you're going to ask me, right?"
"Oh I am. I want you on it."
Tim shook his head, a look of disbelief on his face as he abandoned his wall perch and walked past Matt to stand in front of the window, looking out of the apartment to the view beyond. "Come on, man, you know I already gave up on making it as a pro player. The last team I was on just wasn't a real team. Besides, I have a real job now."
"But you know what the problems were!" Matt argued back, turning around to face his disbelieving friend. "You understand the communication problems that existed on the team. You understand the social divides that were between you and your teammates. You can prevent those from happening here! And you can't seriously tell me that you prefer your desk job selling phone coverage to people is more appealing than playing video games for a living."
For a while, Tim stood there, silently contemplating. It was hard for Matt to tell what was going through his head from behind him, but he could only hope that his friend was considering accepting it. Minutes stretched out, all silence, all unmoving.
"I want full control over who joins the team." Tim finally said after nearly seven minutes of not saying anything.
"All yours."
"I want a gaming house in southern California. Fully furnished with gaming rigs for all of us to play on together."
"Done. It'll take a while to set that up, but I can get immediate temporary arrangements for now if needed."
Tim nodded. "I want to be able to set the player's initial salaries and be able to offer fully paid for transportation to the house from wherever they're currently at."
"I can agree with that."
Silence for another moment. "Damn, you really do want to do this."
Matt nodded simply. "I really do. Not only to fulfill your dream of making it to the pro scene, but to fulfill mine as well."
A few more minutes of silence. Matt bit his bottom lip in nervousness. He was so close to getting him to agree to it.
Then, a small sigh came from Tim. Matt grinned. He had heard that sigh so many times before. He had won.
"Alright. I'll do it."
Matt smiled, nodding and making a mental note to get things prepared for a move to California. "Great! I can start doing initial scouting for potential recruits in the challenger scene if you want."
Tim shook his head, walking to the door. "No need. I already have people in mind to ask. I'll come back to you with a complete roster when I have it." He stated finally before opening the door to Matt's apartment and leaving.
Matt would've been surprised by the abrupt exit, but that was just Tim. He just expected it at this point. Matt turned in his chair to face his computer, his fingers flying to the keyboard to dance along the keys. He had a lot of work to do now.