It's about time for another Envy Problems chapter. Also, a little heads up for those of you who have asked me about my writing and whatnot.

I have no problem with people taking inspiration from my stories giving subtle nods to my projects. Heck, you can even borrow Mike and Markus for appearances in your Huniepop stories so long as you ask me first! I'm cool with that – just try your best to keep them in character.

There's a new poll on my profile too. Which Hunie would you like to end up with Mike in this story? Cast your vote and let me know!

Lady Sapphire

A brief social meet on the university campus - mid-afternoon and Nikki couldn't help but watch in amusement as a certain Miss Belrose scribbled away against a ragged piece of paper with bright purple ballpoints. People gave her passing glances as they hurried between classes – but a great many were silenced by viperous hisses.

"Is that thing you've got there supposed to be one of your essays? No way they'll let you submit it with all the notes across the margins. You don't even have a reference page attached to the ba-"

"Butt out, Anne-Marie," the redhead snarled, tossing her pen from the side of the table and plucking another one from the 'pile' she'd accumulated in her corner of their shared space, "You can't go judging me on how I do my work. Shit… you're not even in university. Speaking of that... keep your visitor tag on show, dammit. I can't afford to get busted again."

It was times like these that the gamer girl really wanted to stand up to people. Thankfully, she'd felt much more confident recently for reasons she couldn't explain. Pushing up her glasses, she smirked and went in for the kill, "I might not be in UOG… but I still have the entire university referencing guide memorized from page to page... and Audrey? It's your fault you got into trouble the other day."

"God, really? You weren't there, you didn't see the way Little Miss Bitch was badmouthing me," Audrey snorted – her hand ablaze with deft movements of the writing implement. It didn't take long however for her to give up. "You know what? This assignment can piss off…. Miss Yumi gave me an extension until Wednesday….."

"Anyway," the porcelain diva folded her paper, scooped up her pens – and tossed them all into the bottom of her expensive little bag with a smirk most twisted, "….Have you left your cave long enough to hear the latest gossip? I tell ya Nikk… this one's juicy as fuck!"

The way she rubbed her hands together resembled that of an evil mastermind on the prowl. The sour chuckle that followed only reinforced the scene all the more, "….I heard this rumour from a girl in Lusties. Third Betrayal…. Pretty Boy's band… might be breaking up! Turns out he was caught sleeping with a fan or some shit… and it leaked to the internet."

A hard emotional thump slugged Nikki square in the chest. In their meeting a couple of days prior Mike had mentioned his band was in trouble, but he'd never gone so far as to mention the specifics. What she wanted to do more than anything was whip out her Huniebee right now and message the singer for confirmation, but that would've been too obvious.

Instead, there was only one option. The blue-haired barista hardened her gaze and knotted her fingers together into a clasp. It was time to play the fool – because of course; Audrey would be one of the first to have heard such a malicious story.

"No way, you're shitting me," if anything, playing all those RPG's had taught her how to get into character. Right now she was a daring rogue with a silver tongue, "….I knew he was a jerk but jeez… sleeping with a groupie? That's low…."

"Oh it gets even better," Audrey chuckled icy cold, her hands supporting her sides, "….It's plastered across their official website! Fans are commenting left and right – one girl even talked about starting a petition to make them quit!"

The character façade fleeted under such an intense revelation. Little holes cracked in the metaphorical mask – and it took all the strength Nikki had to stop her surprise from leaking through, "A major jackass," she replied stiffly, "Why would he do something like that?"

'Keep it together Anne-Marie….You've got to stay incognito. If she figures out you've spent time with him it's all ove-"

"You okay there, Nikki?" Audrey came back with a flip of her vibrant hair – slumping against their little wooden lunch table with a sigh, "….You've got some seriously weird look going on there, kinda like you shit yourse-"

"I'm fine," a quick response was best right now.

The bespectacled beauty reached for a paper cup just across the way. Steam rose from the top as her nostrils took in the wonderfully intense aroma of expresso. Her lips graced the piping hot drink, taking short sips before setting it back down. "You're looking real happy with yourself, Audrey – but anyway… I need to pass on a message from Tiffany… she was wondering if you've had any luck tracking down her phone. It doesn't look like she's found it yet – and I checked my house but it isn't there, either."

The excitement in the party girl's eyes finally looked to be cooling. Still chilled against her rickety little chair – Audrey fished around in her clutch – slender hands pulling out a white packet and a lighter, "No wonder she hasn't been answering my texts."

She jammed a cigarette into the corner of her mouth – fingertips sparking the cheap plastic lighter with the furious precision of a sharpshooter, "Didn't she say it went missing after we last visited the Bar and Lounge? I went back a little while after... but I didn't find find shit when I looked."

Nikki tore her gaze away with a short sigh – finishing her drink and quietly slipping out her regular phone. It'd been there purely for show these recent weeks. "She's coming over to my place tomorrow. I'll let her know we haven't had any luck. It sucks she lost it – might be better in the long run if she buys a new one."

"Phones are expensive," Audrey scoffed – taking a drag nicotine and puffing out a hefty plume of smoke, "Don't see why you'd wanna burn money on something dumb like that when you could spend it on havin' a good time."

Of course she'd say something like that – the girl who had practically no appreciation for technology. Heck, her phone resembled something from the previous decade, "You know, Audrey… an updated phone might be good for you. You could use it to surf the web and order your clothes online. You'd save so much time instead of going to the mall almost every day."

"And end up wearing a discount turtleneck like you," she looked horrified at the thought, "Na, I'm just fucking with ya, but no thanks. I ain't saying I don't know how to use sparkly-ass phones like yours and Blondie's… I just don't give enough of a damn to waste my time with em'."

"Suit yourself." That conversation was well and truly over. "I won't bother giving advice next time."

Seconds dragged on. Now it was quiet - far too quiet.

"Hey! I have an idea!" Audrey came barrelling past the silence with a grin – one most evil at that. "Pass me your cell! I wanna go online and look up Mike's video. C'mon! I bet it'll be hilarious!"

"What?!" Anne-Marie bit down hard to stop herself from getting too loud – mentally cursing as the light flare of her native Australian accent slipped out, "….You want to see Mike… doing the deed? That's Kinda weird. No... I think 'gross' is a better word."

A giggle escaped the redhead – palm resting over her mouth in suppression, "First time I've heard you go all Australian on me in a while… sooooo funny!"

"Hey," Nikki lowered her head and frowned, "Quit it with that shit, won't you? You're a hypocrite."

"Ohhhh whatever," Audrey flung her head back in a hearty laugh – its strength gradually thinning out as she came back to her friend with a playful wink, "Only thing that makes me French is one of my damn passports – been here most of my life."

"You can speak the language – that's worth something."

"Only use it in bed… drives the dudes wild," Audrey stubbed out her smoke against the tabletop, "Now are we gonna watch this video or not?"

The gamer would've given anything to burn the mental image of her friend gasping and sputtering in a foreign tongue. She presented her phone in defeat – a stiff roll of her eyes to externalize how she felt, "It's isn't like you're giving me much of a choice."

"Not unless you want to pay for my drinks the next time I haul your nerdy ass outside, nope."

Audrey flicked her thumb across the screen, typing against the keypad with gusto, "Found it!"

She set the cellular device down and gave a cackle, "Here we go."

Nikki backed off a little at first while the video buffered, "….I don't feel right doing this. I mean… this is Mike Winters. You've been with him Audrey…. Why on Earth would you want to look at him bumping uglies with another girl?"

"Because," she began, her crimson eyes narrowed with an almost zealous amount of burning curiosity, "….Might as well check and see if he treats other girls like he did me – and don't make out you didn't fuck him when you spent time together… he dicks everyone."

Something about that response felt very bitter – a shadow of her playful laughs just seconds earlier. Nikki shook her head, shoulders tensed in defence.

"But we didn't-"

"Yeah right, like I believe you." Yet she was cut off by the diva before she even had a chance.

An image flickered to life on the small confines of the screen – two bare figures in their natural glory, illuminated by the light of a night vision camera. Anne-Marie doubled back on reflex the second she saw shoulder length peroxide hair, toned muscles and bright green eyes.

Mike – bare and laboured in his breathing, was most assuredly at work with a curvy lady of a fair skinned, freckled complexion. She writhed and cried out blissfully under every movement, her rounded behind wiggling in perfect harmony with each well-timed maneuverer of the exercise. There was no doubt that the vocalist was in complete command of the situation as she sighed and groaned in mind-melting bliss.

"Well I'll be dammed," Audrey boomed with dry laughter from her chapped lips, "He sure as hell ain't no submissive with this one, that's for sure. C'mon, Nikk! Stop hiding away… you're being so lame."

Morbid curiosity took hold from behind the protective weave of fingers across her face – Nikki peaked out, tiptoeing closer. Everything was on show in full glory – she gasped hard, trying to choke it back, but it didn't work as a cough wretched from the bottom of her tight lungs.

A tangled, sighing union of two people lay wrapped together atop a washed out motel bed. Slick flesh met with hungry, clawing fingernails, as the flames of passion snapped and sparked aloud. Nikki wanted to look away – for the love of all things she held dear. She wanted to pretend this wasn't happening, but she couldn't.

Her heartbeat rose to a furious chorus of borderline painful thumps – her cheeks reddening to searing intensity. A queasy combination of turbulent emotion bubbled away in the pit of her stomach. Part of her was devastated – shaken to the core by realization.

The charming, gentle, misunderstood vocalist she'd seen in such a gentle light, was just as intense and powerful as something she'd played in one of her more lewd and kinky dating sims. A hand rested upon her heart as two shaky blue eyes drank up the scene – and yet the other side of her flushed hard.

'I feel so nasty… why is part of me getting turned on watching this?'

She couldn't take it anymore. "Click it off and give back my phone."

"Not gonna happen," Audrey protested with a bratty whine, "It's just getting good! Have you seen this girl? Typical Mike bait… curvy, huge tits… and look at the size of her fat ass!"

"Audrey," the gamer girl snapped, snatching back her phone and dismissing the video with a jab of the finger.

"Hey I was watching tha-"

Nikki stiffened in defiance and anchored in tight – eyes so powerful that they managed to bring even the redhead down for a change, "How would you like it if some guy stuck a video of you on the internet? I know I'd feel real dirty if that happened to me."

"Now you're being a fucktard! Would you listen to yourself? Just check the page – he uploaded it from his own account. Sounds like your sticking up for him... AGAIN!"

Something about this entire thing still didn't piece together very well. A hunch screamed in the back of Nikki's mind as her frilly friend stood shouting against the moral high ground. The look in her eyes – the venom in her words, and more importantly, the nasty little smile across her lips.

The fusion of all three things brought the blue-haired girl to a very dark place. She silently stood back and wondered, having long since tuned out Audrey's voice.

'I know Mike… at least… I think I know him. I mean, yeah, he turned his back on me… but something in my gut tells me he's not capable of doing something like this. But what can I do? If I reach out to help him again… then he might end up hurting me a second time. Maybe I should keep letting Lady Sapphire do the talking….'

Nikki backed up with a sigh – arms folded as she squeezed her sweater for warmth. Her gaze fell upon Audrey – a deep inquisitiveness overtaking her thoughts. She scanned every inch of her – it was a search for the much needed biography page that came with every encounter in her games.

'Anybody else and I would've dropped this… but there's something in Audrey's eyes that scares me. They're so hateful… so driven… and I'm starting to wonder if she-'

A shake of her head pulled her away from such a line of thought.

'No… now I'm yanking ideas out of thin air. Of course she isn't involved. You need to ease off the conspiracy theories, Ann-Marie.'

A subconscious spark brought Nikki back into action. No, she couldn't abandon the feeling swimming around inside. "Give me a sec, okay Audrey? I have to use the bathroom."

"Whatever… need to hit my last class in a few, so I'll catch ya later or something? Tell Tiff I'll see her at the club this weekend."

"Sure, I can do that."

As she walked away, Nikki felt her heart pull tight in her chest – her rebellious feelings on the verge of flooding the concrete in a tidal wave. With Audrey out of sight, she was safe to pull out her Huniebee – with a deft flick of the finger bringing up Mike's profile.

"I haven't taken the time to read it in full before… but there's a first time for everything I suppose."

After all – she needed to piece things together as to appease her wayward heart. Despite her judgement telling her to walk away, something – a happy memory or perhaps a weak glitter of hope inside, kept her clinging on. It was the same as her quiet attraction to the video footage she'd just seen – as much as she hated it, feared it, even, she also liked it.

Name – Mike Andrew Winters

Date of Birth – February 18th 1993

Age – 22

Strongest Trait – Talent

Nikki shooked her head and scrolled down – she'd seen all of this before. What she needed was something much more detailed. This phone was almost scary - not only could it keep tabs on people, but it even kept a detailed record of a person's past after a certain number of hearts was reached. In this case it was three - Mike's reading had been jumping between two and three hearts for a very long time.

"I promised myself when Miss Kyu gave me this phone that I wouldn't use it to pry into his personal life – but given everything that's happened, as guilty as it makes me feel… I need to know everything."

"Here it is," Nikki breathed deep, running a nervous hand through her hair before honing in on the screen. "What makes you tick, Mike? Did I make the right choice trusting you before?"

'Mike Andrew Winters – is the son of classical music (and nationally known) darling, Angela Scarlett Winters, who fought against the adversity of fragile health to follow her dream of performing for the masses, before tragically passing of Cardiomyopathy in early 1993. Our sources believe that Mike initially started by following in her footsteps to gain a better insight into the lone parent he'd never met – but from his early teenage years onward he moved on to pursue an independent direction, taking up singing and intensive vocal training.'

'Throughout his life, Winters was renowned for a shy persona, his untapped potential easily outweighed by his lack of self-confidence and ability to make important life decisions. After graduating from Greenville Community College, he moved to Glenberry, where he forged a connection with Kyanna Delrio. Their bond did not last, however - and fell apart shortly after Kyu Sugardust was sent to aid in his personal development.'

His amazingly high (but at the time dormant) Talent and Charm abilities surged in force - causing him to become smooth and dangerously alluring - though not without at least some remorse for his actions. This was shown when he chose to wilfully turn away from another potential candidate – Miss Nikki Anne-Marie, in order to avoid causing her harm through his conflicted emotional state. At present - he is locked in an indulgent cycle of self-destruction - and shows little hope of stopping alone.'

Nikki kept on reading – her curious grey matter drinking up everything. His hopes, dreams, aspirations.

The dim glow of her friendship with the fallen musician acted as a guiding ligh – bringing her closer to the conclusion she'd been looking for.

"I know what I'm going to do…."

Memories of the past played out with film grain inside her head – their moments of sharing pizza and playing console games together – not to mention their countless meetings at the old arcade. They swam in a pleasant union – giving her a smile.

"I've been too quick to judge for a long time – force of habit. But you never made fun of me or looked down on me for my hobbies… you went along with all the things I enjoyed doing… and you gave me a chance. I'm still mad you rejected me… but what if the profile was right? Did you really do it for my sake?"

Whatever the answer might've been – she needed to know.

Sweeping aside Mike's Huniebee page, the blue-eyed recluse pulled up the 'messaging' function. "Time to go to work – I need you, Sapphire."

Nikki sank into the mist with a quiet smile – and from the ashes came the confidence of a hero personified – a woman she'd always quietly wanted to be. The swordswoman of her electronic fantasies was never afraid. Her blade had cut down whole armies - what problem could one man cause?

"…Never thought I'd have the power to help people – especially in real life."

Sapphire breathed hard – her whole body coursed with a torrent of mighty adrenaline – a shiny blue sparkle glittering from her body in the afternoon sun, "Time to do this..."

Mike Andrew Winters let out a cold sigh and stared dead ahead in the misty rainfall. Days on the road – busses, cabs and hitchhiking – but now, it was almost the last stretch. He was reviled – disgusted, his adoring fans had turned tail and blasted hard with everything they had. Now, through blurry green eyes, he squinted under the burn of incoming lights

A greyhound bus – heavy feet on the path back from nowhere. Running a hand through his soaked blond hair, the singer tossed his damp black sports bag over the shoulder and climbed aboard.

"Glenberry," he coughed hard, looking to the gravelly face of the driver, "I need to go back home."

The word home lodged in his throat – it sure didn't feel like the home he'd made for himself anymore. Was there much point in going back if the people who'd idolized him just days prior, now looked upon him with such hate?

"You okay there, kid?" The older man leaned in – his gruff, greyed features dropping into a rigid ensemble, "Looks like you've been on the road for a while."

"Falcon City," Mike uttered under his breath – brain jolting with the events of his past few days, "Went all the way to Falcon City just to see a friend of mine play – was her last show before wrapping up. Ever heard of Nora's Renegades?"

"Na… can't say I have. Oh, and not to rush ya here, but... this bus has got places to be, and Glenberry's a four hour drive – so, you in?"

"Yeah," Winters threw a bill toward the driver, "Twenty, keep the change."

"Hey, thanks. Don't mind if I do there."

Time to get out of here – Mike went straight to the back, lodging himself in the corner seat of the almost empty vehicle. Tossing down his bag, he slouched against the grimy cushions and closed his eyes, "Looks like I'll be back in just a f-"

Vibration from his right pocket – the musician brought a hand down to investigate. Strange – who was calling right now?

A glance at the screen brought with it a nervous pang – his stomach danced, "Unknown number – no caller identification. What's been the deal with all of this anonymous stuff recently?"

It was pointless to avoid it any longer. He brought his finger down to jab the screen – bringing the phone to his ear with a quiet breath. "….Who is it? I've been getting a lot weird messages lately and I don't appreciate i-"

"Hey there," Strange – the voice sounded female – but it was wrapped in a distorted shroud, almost as if it'd been altered or changed, "….My name is…. Sapphire. I hear you've been having a hard time recently."

"Sapphire," Mike's inside twisted under the stress – this 'Sapphire' person had been something of an enigma over the passing weeks. Her messages had acted as warnings, one going so far as to prompt Markus into helping him during a time of serious need. Whatever the case here – he needed to pick his response carefully.

"….I'd like to know why you've been sending me texts – and how you got into contact with one of my friends."

"I have my ways," there came a soft chuckle over the line, "And the reason I've been helping is… well because," the mysterious voice let out a tense gasp for air, "…I know somebody… a girl… and she really cares about you. I'm here to help you out, Mike Winters."

"Fuck," Mike shuddered quietly – resting his back against the window as the bus started moving, "….You do know my name. Just so you're aware… this feels like some stalker level crap."

"Don't be so quick to judge," Sapphire went quiet for a moment – and the blond was sure that for the faintest second he could hear typing on a keyboard. "I'll stop hiding behind the mask after tonight… and I'll meet you in person. Come to the Corkscrew Carnival at midnight tomorrow – bring your phone with you – the Huniebee."

Oh dear God – this girl really did know everything – Mike sucked in sharp air, his heartbeat picking up to a mile a minute. Nervousness wasn't the key issue anymore – he was afraid, "….How do you know about my phone? No more of this mysterious ghost garbage... out with it… now!"

His tone – ragged and tense, carried enough volume to draw the attention of other passengers. Shrinking into the corner like a wilted flower, his face hidden, he continued with shaky hands, "….I've had enough stress…. I've had enough bullshit…. Please," he begged, "For once I'd like something to make sense…."

He'd been exposed to a world of magic, fairies and some downright unusual shit since the turn of the new year. Hell, at this point he wouldn't have been surprised if aliens existed. "….I know I've done wrong… and I'm aware I've hurt people… but for the love of God," rasped the singer with a shaken, defeated tone.

"….If you're the one behind all this then I'm sorry…. I didn't mean to hurt anyone… but I'm too deep and stupid – so in the end I tried to take the easy way out and turn off my feelings like I didn't give a damn… but it's always in the back of my mind…."

"….Tomorrow at the carnival… and everything will be clear to you." Sapphire paused – the seconds slipping onward so slowly that, their transition resembled an eternity, "….You're innocent… don't worry… I know you better than you think…."

The line fell silent – Mikey wiped the frustrated tears from his eyes and looked to the streetlights as they whizzed past the window, "….I need to get home to Lillian… she'll be pissed I left her alone like I did for so long."

"Oh, so now you decide to come back? Where have you been? I've had to eat cocktail wieners from the freezer for two days!"

Lillian stomped forward – eyes set to kill – grabbing Mike by the shoulders and staring him down without a shred of remorse, "….Look at you, cuz! You're drenched and you reek of old cologne and vodka! Dad called… and he wanted to talk, but you weren't here and-"

Static overtook everything – his younger cousin's mouth moved but the sound didn't come out – Mike gazed through her almost as if she wasn't there.

'Just let me go, Lillian. I want to shower and get some sleep – I've been awake on booze and adrenaline for almost two days straight.'

"Hey! Are you listening to me?" A violent shake of the shoulders brought Mike swirling back to reality – his centre of gravity tossed up in a vortex and left to flail, "….I said dad was worried about you, dumbass – and you didn't have your phone turned on when he tried to call. Sure, the old man's a major pain in my ass, but motherfuck…"

"I'm heading for a shower," yet Mike found his attempt to retreat blocked as Lillian grabbed his wrist tight, yanking him backward like a ragdoll. Damn did she have a surprising amount of strength – that hurt!

"Like hell you are," the mall brat protested with an angry frown, "….You usually walk through the door looking all smug and cheery with yourself… now look at you. It's like some hobo beat you up and stuck on your clothes! I don't like it… this is soooo not the Mikey I wanna see…."

"Oh," Mike snatched his hand away, "….Well what side of me do you wanna see, hmm? Because right now everything's coming down around me… and you want to know how I really feel? I don't feel happy, and I sure as almighty FUCK don't think I'm in control anymore."

"So totally not true," Miss Winters barked back – hands on hips as her blue eyes met with Mike's green, "….All you have to do is snap your fingers and you get whatever you want. Like, always, all the time… I saw you at the club! Second you walk in girls throw their dumb asses at you!"

It was hard to comprehend this – to understand why she flicked back and forth so chaotically between one extreme to the other. At one moment, she'd be glued to him – loving every second of his company, and the moment he showed something she didn't like, it would be back to square one again – with the cursing and the criticism of his life choices.

One thing in Mike's mind stood clear above all else:

'Right now... the last thing I need is her backsass and bullshit over my decisions.'

"YEAH! AND WHERE DID THAT GET ME? NOWHERE FUCKING GOOD! THAT'S FOR DAMN SURE!"

An empty silence descended upon the room – Lillian blinked in stunned awe – most undoubtedly at the sheer volume of his outburst. She doubled back, one-step at a time, looking away with an indignant pout, "…No need to yell at me like that…. Oh my god… Like, asshole alert."

This had gone on long enough – Mike tossed his soggy bag to the floor and brushed past with a solemn expression across his usually cocky face, "….I'm the last person you wanna get too wrapped up in. You'll end up disappointed, or in a raging mess – one or the other, Lili."

"You're totally wrong about me," she turned back – a hand reaching out to grab his shoulder, "….Shows how much you know after all these years." Her grip tightened, black-polished nails scratching against the skin lightly, "But what-ever… if you wanna be an asshole like mom and dad then that's fine…. I ain't givin' up just yet…."

"Save yourself the trouble," it was time to speak from experience, "….Go back home to Uncle James and Aunt Marie. They're concerned about you – and I'm not the kind of influence you need."

"Like it's your job to decide what's good for me," Lili scoffed hard and tried to yank Mike backward again, "….I'd rather be here… beats sitting back home in boooring Greenville drinking coffee."

"You're stubborn." Mike snapped. He stood fast, refusing to let himself budge, "….I'm trying to help you… and you won't let me."

"Ohhhh no – not taking shit like this from you, Cousin. I'm stubborn? Fun fact… there's a mirror in your room. Why not stand in front of it and take a look at yourself?"

"Fuck off." Mike slapped her hand away – taking a beeline to his bedroom.

WHACK!

He slammed the door shut behind with a frustrated snarl – moving to sit on the edge of the bed. The first thing he brought to light was of course - the Huniebee. His mind jumped back to the earlier conversation on the bus.

"Sapphire…. she might be my last chance."

Flicking across his saved links to the band's website – he felt a gloomy haze descend. A poll sat in the comments section on the main page. Of course, the fans were still out for blood – or at least a fraction of them.

'Should Third Betrayal Disband?'

Yes – 109 Votes

Unsure – 67 Votes

No – 35 Votes

End of the line – Mike couldn't take another second of this. Slumping against the sheets – he let the phone drop from his hand, nudging it across the bed.

"Tomorrow night at the Corkscrew Carnival. It's insane… trusting a voice over the phone… but what choice do I have?"

To be continued….

Thank you for your time. As always, please feel free to leave me some feedback if you want to. What did you enjoy? What are you hoping for in future? I value all of your opinions. As always, keep on supporting Huniepop and Huniecam studio! I'll see you in the next chapter!