Chapter 1: Joy and Pain

In the Realm of Doom, Hunter...or Sir Excellence was king.

He didn't need Becky; he had never needed her. Flirting, dating…those were things for real life, a painful world he cared less and less for.

Sir Excellence strolled through a random forest in the game, allowing Hunter see its beauty…despite that it was a world of pixels and codes instead of real life. It was the only world he felt powerful in.

But it looked beautiful. The trees around him looked like they were wet from fresh rain; even the music of the game played sweet bird hums to calm him…

He could play this game forever.

But he has been too focused on his computer screen to notice his brother sneak behind him. Miles quickly shut it off; pushing Hunter to take his laptop.

"What are you doing?" Hunter yelled, trying to pry the laptop away from Miles.

"I'm doing what's best for you. This game has to stop." Miles looked at him sadly, firmly grasping the laptop away from him.

Hunter knew he couldn't get it back; he stopped fighting to glare up as his brother. "You can't tell me what to do."

Miles remained calm. "You shouldn't be wasting your life on this. It isn't real." It sickened Hunter.

"I know! That's the point. I'm sorry that I don't have Maya to comfort me through our parents' messed up marriage!" Hunter lashed out.

"You don't really mean that…" Miles hesitated, slightly hurt, but he persisted. "I can't let you have this back."

Hunter burst out, "I'll go to dad!"

"You know he wouldn't care." Miles' words were sadly too true.

"There still is mom…" Hunter knew he was fighting a losing battle.

"She can't deal with us right now. She doesn't want to."

For a few moments, they just stared off in silence, not knowing what to say. They might have people who lived with them in this house and called themselves their parents, but Mr. and Mrs. Hollingsworth were anything but.

"Please, don't take it away…" Hunter was too sad to be angry, too tired to fight. He could only plead.

"No, Hunter. Your gaming addiction needs to stop. You don't have friends…you don't ever leave this room except to go to school."

"I'm not missing out on real life," Hunter's voice shook, trying to act confident despite how wrong he knew his words were. Even if he admitted his problem, he didn't know where to start. Things were simple in Realm of Doom; all he wanted was for his life to be simple.

"You don't believe that. Also, don't try telling me you'll need this for school. Degrassi has computers for you to use for homework…and maybe you'll have to talk someone and even make a friend."

"I can't believe this is happening to me…"

Hunter would no longer have an escape from reality. He didn't have the strength to confront the problems in life. He had no friends, his family was in shambles, and now he was being forced to deal with it.

Head on and brutally. Hunter already felt vulnerable. The next day at school could only go wrong.

In a day, Degrassi looked completely different. Hunter mused on that as he walked towards the school, watching the herds of other students hanging outside. He could barely think of them as people.

He felt like they were packs of wolves eyeing him, despite that he knew how ridiculous that was. In real life, he had no ways to feel strong: no magic nor weapons. All he had in real life was his own thin, weak body and his family problems always spiraling out of control.

Degrassi used to look plain to him: a dull prison that he was forced to attend in the day. Now, it looked like a towering castle of doom, loaded with dangerous monsters in the forms of his fellow students. He was nervous; the escape of gaming even during lunch had helped take away the pain of being here.

But now he had nothing. He was more aware of his surroundings, more terrified of what would happen.

Maybe he could still game…

Hunter wasn't the only gamer in school...there was Chewy, who would side with Miles and not help him, but there was also Grace. He obviously couldn't turn to Becky.

Grace must be willing to get him a laptop…even if he could only use it in school away from Miles…as long as Hunter paid her. It was completely desperate, insane, and would probably turn out badly.

It was the only option. He already couldn't handle being at Degrassi and class hadn't even started.

Hunter hesitantly waved at Grace before he walked on over to her. She was standing against the lockers with her fellow Rubber Room thugs. Hunter might not have known Tiny and Zig, but he had heard enough of them from his brother.

"What do you want, dweeb?" Grace didn't ask, but practically commanded. Hunter was too nervous to even fake being calm.

"I need something." Zig and Tiny being next to him made Hunter even more paranoid, as if at any second, Grace could sick them on him.

"And what does a niner want from me?"

"My laptop was taken away. I need you to hook me up with one."

"Who do you think I am? Some black-alley…or hallway…dealer of stolen tech?" Grace rolled her eyes.

"No…but…"

She cut him. "Listen, I'm not doing anything like that nor am I helping some pretty little rich boy do who knows what with a stolen laptop."

Hunter eyed the group, struggling to think of something to say. "I can pay you?"

"Oh, I bet you can. But the answer still is no. Go away." She turned back to Zig and Tiny, no longer caring to talk to him.

"Please…" He begged, his voice beginning to shake." Hunter knew he sounded pathetic, but he couldn't stop himself from groveling.

He was an addict. There was no low he wouldn't sink to as long as the promise of returning to Realm of Doom awaited. It was worth any cost.

Grace turned to him, pausing before speaking. "I can't help you. You obviously have problems a lot more than a laptop if you're breaking down in a hallway right now."

Hunter focused, trying to force his voice not to shake. He was becoming vulnerable and desperate again: even unleashing the crazy, irrational side of himself. Hunter was messed up and the cracks were showing.

Suddenly, he had an idea that he didn't know if it was an epiphany or the worst trainwreck in his life. An addict like him couldn't think about the repercussions. He could only act impulsively...much like Sir Excellence.

"Maybe you can help me on that." His voice came out smoothly for once, his plan easing his nerves. If he could win battles and slay monsters in Realm of Doom, he had to have some strength in the real world.

"I've already told you…"

"That you won't give me a laptop. But I'm a mess…who needs a friend."

Hunter wanted to laugh at his words. Miles would regret taking away his laptop and forcing him to find a life. Hunter was still obsessed with Realm of Doom and would do anything to game again, but for now, he had a new goal: befriending the Rubber Room kids.

"What?" Tiny choked out, as Grace remained too shocked to speak. Zig remained silent with an unknowable expression on his face.

"Let's be friends. I'm messed up, irrational, obsessed with gaming…and my name is Hunter." He gave them a wicked smile, still enjoying the shock plastered on their faces.

Hunter was nothing like them: he was rich, entitled and young, not to mention just how emotionally unstable he was.

Despite that, he would make them his friends. Maybe he could game again or this was just a plan to spite Miles…but something had snapped in Hunter.

He had to live real life without care: in a twisted, crazed way, he was doing everything Miles had wanted him to do. He would spite his brother and make him regret ever taking away his laptop.

Hunter rarely ate lunch. When he had his laptop, he skipped to game. It was pathetic that he placed the virtual world over his health but he had loved it. Food didn't comfort him, but Realm of Doom did.

Now, he had nothing to do but to go to lunch. Hunter walked with his tray, searching for Grace, Tiny, and Zig. Even still, they were shocked to see him.

"What are you doing here?" Grace didn't speak meanly this time. It was practically friendly coming from her.

"Sitting by my new friends." Hunter tried smiling and looking happy, but appeared downright manic.

"Then sit down." Tiny spoke, too curious about whatever Hunter would do to force him to sit somewhere else. Hunter was interesting and unpredictable to them.

They should have pushed him away. They had every right to, yet Grace, Tiny, and Zig remained too fascinated by him. He was crazy...legitimately crazy and made even themselves seem normal in comparison. Also, they pitied him. There was no way around the fact that Hunter was desperate and lost enough to talk to them.

"So why are you really sitting with us?" Zig asked nicely, trying to have as normal of conversation as he could have with Hunter.

"Just making friends…don't we all need friends?" Hunter either sounded insane or corny.

"The last time I've heard someone say that is when Zig and I joined a gang." Tiny laughed, trying to scare Hunter a little, but he wasn't frightened. Hunter smiled back.

"Okay. I have an addiction to gaming…and not some crazy substance like the rest of this school. Miles took away my laptop so I couldn't play Realm of Doom."

"So rich kids problems." Grace spoke, causing the three of the Rubber Room kids to laugh.

"Sadly true." Hunter laughed along with them.

"Realm of Doom isn't even that good of a game," Zig spoke. "It's like the Syfy Original Movie of gaming."

"How dare you sir, Sharknado was a classic than even beat out the heartfelt Sharktopus! Syfy rocks and so does Realm of Doom." Hunter jokingly tried to be serious.

"They sure beat Sand Sharks…quality movies." Zig continued, trying to be nice.

"Nerds." Grace smiled.

"I don't even understand what they're saying." Tiny just laughed.

"Since when do you play?" Hunter turned to Zig. "Obviously gaming gave you the fighting skills to beat up my brother."

Grace was a dead-end for gaming, but somehow Hunter might just be able to worm his way into using Zig. It could work perfectly...and be the best form of revenge against his brother. Not only would he still game, but with the same guy who had fought Miles. It was hilarious.

"A level 5 pixie can put up a tougher fight than your brother." Zig huffed.

"I will confirm this fact." Hunter said, much to everyone at the table's amusement. "But obviously, I am the toughest of the Hollingsworth brothers."

"And I will call out that lie." Grace snickered. "Obviously your younger sister is the toughest."

Hunter was crazy, strange, and had forced himself into their lives, but somehow things were going well. They were actually getting along. This definitely didn't beat the highs of playing Realm of Doom...but for once, Hunter had found something in real life that he didn't detest.

He almost enjoyed them, but he had to focus on gaming. Zig must be used. Hunter might feel some joy being with this group, but real life was too full of pain to rely on something beyond gaming.

AN: This is my attempt at writing the crack-tastic pairing of Hunter/Zig (which can even more hilariously be called "Hug"). Their relationship will build up in the second chapter. I also hope to deal with Hunter's gaming addiction. For more crack-slash, I also have a Miles/Zig story called "Soft Power" that will be updated soon.