"Oh, so it's you guys making all that noise." Three boys approached the table. They were none other than Taurus' Triangle! Jaiden, Nash, and Rio!
"Yo, what's up?" Nash saluted. "You should've told us you're coming here. We could play a few rounds."
"Actually," Lars said. "For once, we didn't come here to play Mancers."
"Oh, is that so?" Jaiden asked. "Then, what are you playing?"
"Some hardcore bowling, yo!" Lars grinned. "It was fun."
"Dang, you Stratus folks sure be feeling yourselves, huh." Nash chuckled. "Shouldn't y'all be training for the regionals every chance you've got? I mean, Leo did a number on you and all."
"That's indeed true," Vincent said. "We simply needed a breather. Playing nothing but Mancers 24/7 may sound impressive, but unfortunately, productivity drops off sharply if the mind does not get proper rest."
"Oh, I get what you mean." Jaiden nodded. "Mancers is our main PvP game, but we still play other competitive games, too. It's nice to have a breath of fresh air every now and then."
"Though," Rio added. "Soon enough, we're reminded that the regionals are approaching and we've got to keep practicing."
"You meant to say that YOU are the one reminding us every time!" Nash grumped. "I swear, bro feeds off being a party pooper. Can't have shit when he's around."
"It's because you two always get carried away," Rio scolded. "It's fine to take a break for an hour or two, not the entire day."
"Guilty as charged, haha," Jaiden admitted to his crimes.
"Yeaaaah, I guess we do get a lil' carried away with the other games." Nash laughed. "Seriously tho, you've become real bossy lately, man. Not necessarily in a bad way, mind."
"Well," Rio started. "I got a tip that, as the Support, I should be more assertive. Somebody has to keep you brats in line."
"Dang, the sass on this dude!"
"You know I'm right," Rio asserted. "The regionals are right around the corner, so we're not in the position to mess around. We have to keep getting better until we convince Raymond to put us on the first-string."
"True that," Jaiden agreed. "But hey," he addressed Stratus' crew. "Sorry for boring you all with this rambling."
"No worries, dude," Lars said.
"Indeed, no need for concern," Vincent said. Especially, when your so-called "rambling" provides such interesting intel!
The Bermuda Triangle of Certain Doom was one of the greatest forces to be reckoned with. Together, those three were nearly unstoppable! Alas, they were juniors, therefore their position in the club was shaky.
"So, what's yo situation like?" Lars asked. "Still no green light to play?"
"Nope," Jaiden said. "Cap's been reforming the club and he proritized seniors for the first string. And, I get his sentiment, I really do. But, we wanna play, too!"
"Yeah!" Nash exclaimed. "Let us iiiiin!"
"Should we really be sharing this kind of information with our opponents?" Rio criticized. "It's fine to be friendly, but we have to draw a line somewhere."
Nash rolled his eyes. "Aaaaand the residential party popper strikes again."
"He does make a solid argument, though," Vincent defended. "For one, I've thoroughly recorded all the information you've given me so far. Thanks to it, I know for sure that we're better off studying the seniors, as it's unlikely the Bermuda Triangle of Certain Doom will make an appearance in the regionals."
"Hey, that's the wrong name! We're the Invincible Triangle of Absolute Victory!" Nash proclaimed. Apparently, that's the only part he had a problem with.
"Did you rebrand again?" Vincent shook his head in disappointment. "This is not good, not good at all. I understand the allure of coming up with a new name whenever you fancy it, but consistency is key in this business! You must have a stable and recognizable brand name!"
"Well, it won't be that stupid 'Bermuda Triangle' shit you're pushing, that's for sure!"
Rio narrowed his eyes as he watched the banter from the side. "You guys sure worry about the biggest problems out there...". Disappointment was written all over his face. "Anyway, there you have it. They even admit they're taking notes on everything we tell them."
"But, they can't tell for sure what's real and what's not," Jaiden argued. "Who knows, maybe this is all a 200 IQ strat to sabotage their training. We make them think we're out, then we swoop in and trash them!"
"Heck yeah!" Nash pumped a fist. "Gonna pull that reverse uno!"
"Dang!" Lars exclaimed. "We've been duped, dudes!"
"Masaka bakana!" Vincent gasped.
"... yeah, very convincing." Rio made a face. "Anyway, just make sure you two don't leak anything too sensitive, please."
"Got it, got it." Nash rolled his eyes.
As the chatter slowed down, Luke finally found an opportunity to insert himself into the conversation.
"Hey, Lars, Vince," Luke started. "I didn't know you were in cahoots with the Triangle."
"Yep, we are," Lars said. "We exchanged contacts after the scrim, so we started chatting and stuff. They're all cool dudes, so we also practice together sometimes."
"Huh. I guess I was out of the loop."
"Welp, honestly, it's mostly just me. But, Vince and Yuel join sometimes, too," Lars explained. "Yuel said he didn't wanna 'expose' our members to the enemy, that's why not everybody is practicing with the Triangle Dudes."
"Hey, we're the Invincible Triangle of Surefire Victory!" Nash insisted.
"HOLD IT!" Vincent objected. "Just a moment ago, it was Absolute Victory, and now it's Surefire Victory! There's a contradiction in the testimony!"
"Man, this guy is so fussy about them titles, haha."
"It's a serious business!"
And just like that, Luke discovered a huge secret he wasn't aware of. His own allies were partying with the enemy behind his back! And nobody invited me! Shame! Shame!