Complications

Chapter Fifteen – Round Two

Twenty minutes later, Loki is still trapped across campus, his hope wearing thin. "Oh, what's the use? By the time I get out of here, it'll all be over," Loki states, somberly staring out at the distance, "That's the last time I trust a nice person," he grumbles.

All of a sudden, Loki perks up slightly as a tuft of black and white fur approaches a nearby garbage can. "Stinky?" Loki says, watching as the skunk happily rolls around in the garbage, "Stinky!" Loki cries, tapping on the glass. The skunk stops what he is doing and cluelessly stares at him. "Nah, you're not Stinky. There's no way Lazlo would ever let him out of his sight-" Loki stops when he spies the youngest Curious brother approaching them on the horizon, "Lazlo!" Loki screams, pounding his fists hard against the phone booth, "LAZLO!" he cries once more.

Seeing the distressed student, Lazlo picks up Stinky, walks over to the phone booth, and waves. "Hey Loki, how's it going?"

"Splendid," Loki hisses through his teeth, "What are you doing here?"

"Eh," Lazlo shrugs his shoulders, "Sim State was getting pounded, so I decided to go get some snacks."

"Super," Loki sarcastically mutters, now knowing he has his work cut out for him, "Now get me out of here so I can beat those stupid, pretentious little cheaters at their own game!"

Lazlo shrugs once more, "Okay."

…

Fifteen minutes later, after successfully getting rescued by Lazlo and the Sim State Fire Department, Loki tears into the auditorium and jumps up onstage, stopping Chairman Ryan mid-sentence. "Wait, stop! I'm here!" Loki cries, sweaty and disheveled as his teammates approach him.

"Loki, what happened?" Vidcund states as Circe wraps her arms around her boyfriend.

"I'll tell you what happened," Loki repeats, stopping to catch his breath for a moment before pointing accusingly at the Aurora Skies team, "those freaks locked me in a phone booth!" he cries, condoning their slimy behavior, "You played dirty because you knew that I would wipe the floor with you!"

"Whether that's true or not, Mr. Beaker, we are still in the middle of a competition," Chairman Brown speaks up from the podium, "So take your seat. Your team is still trailing by fifteen points."

Loki looks up at the chairman and nods before narrowing his eyes at Cindy, still catching his breath. "Not for long," he smirks.

Forty-five minutes of intense problem solving later, the Sim State and Aurora Skies physics teams find themselves tied at ninety-nine points each as they arrive at the final question. "Alright, after many exciting events here at Sim State University, we find both teams tied as we approach the final question," Chairman Ryan reiterates, "For this last question, each team will select one member to face off at the golden table in front of me, where they will attempt to solve the most difficult equation of the night," he explains, "Whoever solves the question first correctly will win this competition and advance to the finals. The fate of your entire team is on the line, so choose your member wisely," Chairman Brown advises.

"Well, that's easy," Craig speaks up from Sim State's table as the Aurora Skies team debates over their choice candidate across the room, "Loki, you're up."

Loki stands silently behind the table, his face skewed slightly as he ponders over Cindy's harsh words regarding a certain someone.

"Well...?" Vidcund speaks up next to Sim State's leader, "Are you going to go up there or not?" he states, nudging Loki out of his trans.

"No," Loki states firmly, staring Vidcund dead in the eyes, "You are."

"What?!" Vidcund cries, his face instantly flooding with terror at the thought, "No-"

"Vidcund," Loki says suddenly, placing his hands firmly on his classmate's shoulders and staring intently at him, "a team is only as good as its weakest member. If you can't win this, then we don't deserve to go to the finals."

"But-but-" Vidcund squeaks as Loki pushes the trembling sim towards the center of the stage.

Vidcund slowly approaches the golden competition table, his senses elevating with each passing step. Vidcund's eyes are stunned by the bright lights shining down on him, the sounds of the cheering audience shaking him to his core. He shivers, scared out of his mind as he can hear his heart pounding in his chest.

Nearby, Pascal is watching Vidcund backstage, Glarn and Lazlo, holding Stinky, standing next to him. All three of the sims are anxiously holding their breaths.

Back at Sim State's table, Circe is standing there watching this monstrosity unfold, her arms crossed as Vidcund already begins to crumble. "If he loses this, I am going to kill you," she remarks to her boyfriend.

Loki nods, smugly crossing his arms in confidence across his chest. "I know," he reveals, "but he won't."

"Alright," Chairman Brown speaks up, after both Vidcund and Cindy have joined him at the center table, "for a chance to play in the finals. Here we go-"

Vidcund turns to his team in a panic, so terrified that he completely misses the question. "Vidcund! What are you doing?! Start working on the problem!" Loki barks from across the stage, the anger in his face causing Vidcund to quickly jolt awake and start scribbling something down on the piece of scrap paper in front of him.

Vidcund lifts his head up slightly, feeling his world spinning out of control as Cindy frantically works through the problem across from him. Vidcund leans forward and passes out, his hand falling onto the buzzer as he does so. On his way to the floor, the pencil in his other hand draws a straight vertical line down the center of the page.

"Yes, Sim State?" Chairman Brown says, hearing the ring of the buzzer, "Sim State?" he repeats. Chairman Brown walks over to the side of the table, completely overlooking the passed-out student sprawled out on the stage nearby. He picks up the sheet of paper and carefully scans it over. "Hmm…" he begins, taking off his glasses with a squint, "Yes, that is correct. The answer is one!" he chimes, glancing down at his stopwatch, "And in record time, too!" he declares before throwing his arms up, "Sim State advances to the finals!"

The Sim State team cheers as Loki and Circe race over to the center of the stage and pick up Vidcund, who is just starting to regain consciousness, each of them wrapping one of his arms around their shoulder. "Thank you, thank you!" Loki beams into the microphone as a crowd of parents, students, cameramen, and one student reporter surround them, "I would just like to say that this victory was all thanks to my genius plan, which we all worked out together," he stresses, turning to Cindy and flashing her a devious smile, "And furthermore-whoops!" Loki eeps as Vidcund falls off his shoulder and hits the floor for the second time that day. Loki quickly glances down at his teammate, who is sprawled out onstage, and waves it off. "Eh, he'll be fine," he states before turning back to the reporter, "Tune in next week when we take the championship by storm!"

…

A few minutes later, after all the cameras have left and most of the auditorium has cleared out, Vidcund approaches Loki onstage, his head wrapped in bandages. Seeing him, Loki quickly pulls out of his mother's smothering hug and gives an acknowledging nod. "Why'd you do it, Loki?" Vidcund asks.

"What do you mean?" Loki wonders, tilting his head at this question, the stage exceptionally loud for the twenty sims who are standing on it.

"I mean, why did you let me win the tournament?"

Loki cocks his forehead, flashing him a baffled smirk, "I didn't let you win anything, Vidcund, you won it for us yourself. I just did what any decent person would do," he shrugs.

Vidcund tilts his forehead, giving a sassy smirk as he folds his arms over his chest. "That still doesn't explain why you did it," he states as the room continues to grow louder with celebratory cheers around them.

Loki turns away from him, a slight blush forming on his face, "I did it cause I like you," he mutters.

Vidcund steps forward, his ears straining as he struggles to hear what Loki just confessed over the heavy cheers surrounding him. "What?"

Loki swerves back around, shooting his rival a smirk. "It's because you're an idiot, Vidcund!"

"Yeah," Vidcund smiles and laughs, too overjoyed to be offended by Loki's comment, "that's what I thought you said."