Another sniper shot was fired and another thud was heard. Thats when gun fire rained down through the door. Bullet holes painted the wall near Jimmy and Carl as they ducked their head trying to avoid getting hit. Thats when the boys were bumrushed, a horde of soldiers came running through the door. Carl didnt need a command, he clicked the detonator and the C4 activated. Bodies and limbs rained down on the room and blood splattered the rooms interior. The smoke cleared out and Jimmy looked over. The grotesque scene would have made a common gamer ill, but Jimmy was battle hardened. No more chatter was heard outside.
"Sheen" Jimmy called upstairs.
"All clear Jimmy" Sheen yelled back down. Sheen regrouped downstairs with the boys as they crept out of the building. No more soliders were seen, so the boys made therir way through town. No more soldiers, no more traps. They found the yellow arrow and waited for a moment. Over their earpiece the woman spoke again.
"Good job players, all enemies were K.I.A.'d, and no members were injured in the process. You receive an SS on your test, and have been added into the upcoming leaderboards. Results will be posted on the upcoming Monday on the games website. Thank you for participating" she explained politely before the game flashed a white light and returned them to the games lobby. Thats when Sheen spotted Libby.
"My video game queen" Sheen yelled running over and picking her up off the ground.
"Sheen I told you to not call me that" she said blushing a little bit. Next to her was her bestfriend Cindy with a smirk on her face.
"So Nuetron get an F on your analysis" she questioned with a shit eating grin. Jimmy just rolled his eyes before answering.
"For your information Vortex, we received an SS on the test" he said pridefully. Her smile faltered into a look of annoyance.
"Yeah right, your lying through your teeth" she said in an angry tone. Jimmy just smiled and shook his head. He began walking past Cindy and whispered in her ear.
"Guess we'll see monday huh" before walking over to a group of guys. Her face turned red from blushing. She let out an angry gruff and threw herself down on a nearby couch. Libby noticed and told Sheen she'd be back. She walked over and sat down next to Cindy.
"Girl whats wrong" she asked giving Cindy an apologetic look. Cindy glanced over at her and then let out a sigh.
"What if hes telling the truth Lib? What if he did get an SS ranking? Nerdtron cant be higher than me on those leaderboards" she finally let out. Libby chuckled a little bit.
"Cindy come on, its not the end of the world. Besides boys and girl are on seperate boards, its not like it matters to anyone" she said trying to calm Cindy down a little bit.
"Yeah but it matters in here" Cindy explained pointing to her heart. It clicked in Libbys head finally.
"Cin, you have got to let this pride thing go with Jimmy! If hes better than you, what can you do? Unless you challenege him its-" then Libby realized she had said a very stupid thing. Cindy began grinning evily.
"Libby your right! All I have to do is challenge Jimmy and beat him, then everyone will know im better than him" Cindy said getting up and running over to the front desk.
"May I help you" the woman asked politely.
"Challenge form now please" Cindy said making the sentence into one word. The woman turned around then back around with a paper in hand. She quickly filled it out and returned it.
"This challenge will intiate the 1st day after the leaderboards go live. Have a nice day" she said turning back around. Cindy squealed with joy, thinking about crushing Jimmy on those boards, just got her giddy. But then she realized something. What if Jimmy was an SS? Cindy hated to admit it to him, but she was just ranked a single S. If Jimmy beats her...Then what'll happen to her reputation.
Cindy was struck with a sudden illness to her stomach. Did she just sign her own death warrant? She took her place next to Libby with her face pale.
"I should've kept my mouth shut" Libby said regretting her previous words.
"Libby you have got to help me train for Nuetron. Todays Friday, that means I have 4 days until the challenge commences. Please" CIndy said begging her friend. Libby rolled her eyes and nodded her head. Cindys pride gets her into alot of trouble, but Libby is always there to get her out of it.
"Look for now lets just relax. We have all weekend to get you ready for your match, look Nicks coming your way" Libby nodded her head towards Nick who was walking over with his clan, boasting the way over.
"SS baby, SS" Nick yelled coming from taking his evaluation test. The girls flocked around him as he prided himself on his ranking. Again, Nick was the top dog of the leaderboards, and thought of himself as a videogame icon. He had been invited to countless tournaments and guest appearances, excelling in both.
"Who else but me could get the SS ranking" he yelled, questioning the entire lobby. It became quite until Jimmy stepped through the crowd of girls. Nick narrowed his eyes at Jimmy with a questioning look.
"What do you want Nuetron" He barked. Jimmy smirked at him before answering.
"You want to know who else got the SS ranking? Your looking at him" he answered before Sheen and Carl stepped behind him.
"What so all 3 of you got the SS ranking? I dont believe that shit for a second" Nick rolled his eyes.
"Looks like Mr. Top Dog isn't gonna be #1 anymore" Jimmy said circling Nick.
"Just because you got a SS ranking too, doesn't mean your better than me Nuetron. Mondays gonna roll around soon, and ill show you who top dog is" Nick said boatsful. Jimmy smirked again and backed.
"We'll see Nick, just watch your back. It's lonely at the top" Jimmy said backing into the crowd and disappearing. Nick mumbled bitch before turning back to his horde of girls.
"It has to be true then Libby, Nuetron really did get an SS ranking...He's gonna crush me now" Cindy said covering her face with her hands. Libby patted her on the back.
"Cin come on, you'll still have your ranking on the girls boards. Whate does it matter" Libby questioned. Cindy uncovered her face for a moment.
"It means everything Libby, Nuetron cant be better than me. Thats not how I am. I'd do anything to beat him...ANYTHING" Cindy confessed into her friend. Libby couldn't get why this was so important to Cindy, but Cindy was her friend. She had to support her.
"Alright Cin, we'll do everything in our power to help you beat Jimmy" LIbby said hugging her friend.
(Line Break)
Soon enough, the day was over with and the darkness took over outside. The candy bar had adjusted to the gaming age, being turned into a gaming nightclub of sorts. It was fitted with E-Vox machines so players that challenged eachother could occur there if possible. It brought entertainment and a lot of paying customers for Sam. The only thing better than gaming for the kids, were showing off in them for crowds.
The online players in Retroville began dwindling down, each one getting ready for their night of boasting and partying. Kids clad in their clans respective t-shirts, shorts, or headwear flocked to the entrance of the candybar. Jimmy and the boys showed up to wait in line, the long line stretching from the front door, all the way through the parking lot.
Jimmy's stood there with his black clan shirt, 'Monoxide,' strecthing over his torso. Blue jeans and plain sneakers adorned the rest of his body. Sheen was similar, except sporting a black hoodie with the clan logo. Carl had a long sleeve resembling Jimmys shirt.
"Hows it feel being on top now Jim" Carl ask sheepishly. Jimmy just grinned and shook his head.
"No Carl, without you guys I couldn't do it. You guys deserve to be on top as well" Jimmy said being modest about their accomplisment.
"Dude, you're our clan LEADER! You're the badass thats at the top, we'll be around the top ten. But you're the top dog" Sheen assured. Jimmy just kept grinning, thinking about their evalutaion. Thats when he heard his name being called out towards the front of the line.
"Hey Nuetron, Nuetron" someone kept yelling. Jimmy looked around the long line towards the front to see Sam waving at him, motioning for him to come to the front. Jimmy looked at the guys and shrugged his shoulders.
They all passed by the line and up to the front with Sam. "Boys, what are you doing waiting in line!? I heard about your little match today, people like you dont wait" he explained, motioning for the bouncer to open the red velvet rope blocking the entrance.
The boys followed Sam inside the gaming club. Inside were E-voxs set up all around the dark room. Multi-colored lights illuminated the room, shedding the only light in the darkness. Teens occupied the chairs and couches furnishing the place, along with a bar for food and drink orders in the corner. They had small stands set up to sell different video gaming gear, t-shirts, and other things.
"Sheen, Carl, why dont you boys enjoy the bar, free of charge of course for you. Jimmy why dont you join me in my office for a few minutes" Sam offered. Shee and Carl didnt even have to think about it, they were at the bar in a milisecond.
Jimmy followed Sam through a back door to a large office space. Sam sat in a large chair behind the desk occupying the center of the room, leaving Jimmy to the seat in front of it.
"I saw the tape of your performance today...Why the hell have you been so far down in the leaderboards with skills like that" Sam asked angerily. Jimmy rubbed the back of his head shrugged. He just didn't like all the competitiveness. He liked hanging out with his friends, having a laugh or two in between matches.
"I dont know Sam...too much time to put into all of it. The middle isn't amatuers, but not enough to the point where im sacrficing my life" Jimmy confessed to him. Sam nodded his head at the statement and folded his hands on the desk.
"Jimmy im just gonna be blunt about it...Nicks contract with my clubs sponsorship is done with as of this morning. I was going to re-sign him, but then I saw you out there on the field today. I want you to take Nicks spot in the sponsorship" Sam explained holding up a stack of papers stapled neatly.
"Whoa whoa wait a minute...I know I did good out there today, but its only been day one. Dont you think you should think it over a couple of weeks" Jimmy asked in surprise. Sam just chuckled and got up from his chair. He stood by the window and looked out into the darkness.
"Nicks good, but hes cocky. He knows hes good and he exploits the hell out of his downfall. You on the other hand, you do the exact opposite. I'll give you a few days to think it over, but if you dont sign, ill be forced to give Nick the contract" Sam said regretfully.
"I'll think about it Sam, I mean being top dog means a lot of time and effort" Jimmy said standing up from his chair. Sam turned back from the window and picked up a brief case below his desk. He placed it on the desk and opened it, revealing tens of thousands of dollars. Jimmys eyes become boulders at the sight of the cash.
"This would be your signing bonus...plus I have a little surprise for you as well" Sam said walking over to his desk. He pressed a key on his laptop and the laptops home screen came up on a big screen tv located on the wall behind Sam.
He keyed in a few commands and a program began running. Before you could blink, a screen appeared with 6 weapon icons on it, along with two armor icons. Sam clicked the first icon bringing up a futuristic scope.
"This is the HX6 high-powered scope. This scope is reserved for pro players and is not due for release to the public servers til next year. That scope is one of the 5 additiional powerups you'll receive from me, that is if you sign with me. The money and the powerups are all yours...if youll sign right here" Sam said pointing to the dotted line.
Jimmy pondered on the subject for a moment. "I'll do it under one condition" Jimmy finally answered. Sam leaned back in his chair and folded his hands across his chest. "I'm listening."
"You don't sponsor me, you sponsor my clan 'Monoxide,' and they receive the same benefits I do" Jimmy spoke up. Sam scratched his beard for a moment, pondering the deal. Finally, Sam stuck his hand out and shook Jimmy's hand. "Deal boy."