Anyone's Game

by Sylv Chiang

  “Uh, okay.” Could he be any more intimidating?

  He selects his main, Blaze, and the FIGHT! sign flashes.

  The first round ends with a Dragon Breath Super—I blow flames on him until he ignites. The second round finishes when he launches an infinite attack of fiery feathers at me.

  We go round for round, burning each other up. The screen is blazing red and orange.

  We’re still tied when it comes to the third round of game three. Whoever loses is out of the tournament.

  FIGHT!

  Just as I launch into my first attack I hear, “Go, She-Star!” Crap! Why’s that ORevoir guy cheering for me?

  I jump over Chung-Key, because I’ve noticed that he’s weak on the cross ups, which is funny since that’s the name of this game. I get an eight-kick combo in before he puts his block up.

  “Bravo, She-Star!”

  “How do you say ‘shut up’ in French?” I ask Chung-Key.

  Chung-Key gives a quick snort, then transforms Blaze into a phoenix and starts flinging feathers at me again. I transform too, and use my Dragon Fire Super to spin across the screen in a cloud of smoke.

  Our health bars are still even. We go punch for punch, kick for kick, and flame for flame. This round might time out. That means whoever has more health when the timer hits zero wins. I need to make sure that’s me.

  I jump over him again, and get more kicks in from behind.

  “That’s the way, She-Star.” ORevoir counts down with the timer. “Dix, neuf, huit . . .”

  I get in a string of punches and then one more of my go-to combo just as he gets to un. It’s so close we have to wait for the screen to tell us who won. Please! Please! Please!

  KAIGO WINS!!

  Chung-Key rips his controller plug out, kind of like I did after playing Cali yesterday. But unlike me, he shakes hands swiftly before he stomps off.

  ORevoir calls, “Merci, She-Star!”

  Thank you? Oh, now it makes sense. He wanted me to win so Chung-Key would be eliminated. He’s not so tough after all. He’s actually scared to play Chung-Key.

  “You won’t be thanking me after I take you down,” I say.

  Chapter 25

  I’m surprised when I turn around and see Sage waiting for me after my next game.

  “Ready for another business lunch?” he asks.

  What do I say? He’s my teammate. I see Hugh, Devesh, and Cali watching me, like they don’t know what I’m going to say either. “Um, no thanks. I’m gonna have lunch with my friends today.”

  “They can sit in,” he says. “I don’t mind helping your girlfriend out, She-Star.”

  “I told you, she’s not my girlfriend,” I say, loud enough for Cali to hear. “And stop calling me that.”

  “Okay, chillax,” Sage says. “Just trying to help.”

  Did I take it too far? I steal a line from Melanie. “It’s just . . . we have plans.” I head over to my friends and the four of us walk to Mr. Burger.

  I’m not sure where Melanie and Roy are. I haven’t seen them in a while, but I’m sure Melanie will find me next time Mom calls.

  With just the four of us, it’s almost like old times—we eat and talk and no one says the word girlfriend.

  Cali’s the one giving me tournament advice now. “You need to stop letting that ORevoir guy get to you,” she says.

  She’s got a lot more experience with this kind of thing than I do. “How?”

  “Ignore him.”

  “Have you heard this guy? He doesn’t shut up.”

  “Sometimes I just pretend I’m my character.”

  I think about that. When my Kaigo side takes over, I’m fierce too.

  She goes on. “Ylva would never let anyone tell her who she is. Mean words just float past her in the wind, and she doesn’t care.”

  Kaigo is a man of few words; he talks with his fists. To be like him, I need to let my game play speak for itself.

  Kyle gives me the same advice in his pep talk before the match.

  “Don’t react. It’s unprofessional. Just stay quiet and let him run his mouth. Act like you don’t even hear him. Remember, you represent ArcadeStix, so you need to behave respectably.”

  That must be why Chung-Key never said anything back to ORevoir during their match.

  I’m glad this fight isn’t being streamed. I plug in and my thumbs tap the buttons on my controller.

  When ORevoir shows up, his long hair is in a ponytail, like he means business. He starts into the trash talk before he’s even plugged in. “I’m happy you beat Chung-Key.” He pronounces happy without the h. “Much easier for me now.”

  It’s really hard not to say something rude back because this guy reminds me of Ty and Flash. Staying silent just makes him try harder.

  “Soon you can go home to your maman, She-Star,” ORevoir says. “Little boys don’t win big-boy money.”

  I look at Kyle but he just shakes his head.

  “Oh, is Kyle your maman?”

  “Hey, ease up.”

  I know that voice, but I have to turn and look because I never expected to hear it defend me.

  Chapter 26

  “You?” ORevoir says, pointing to Chung-Key. “Aren’t you eliminated? Why are you even here?”

  I’m wondering the same thing.

  “I’m here for my team.”

  “You’re wasting your time. Your team is pathetic. Today you lose to this little boy. She-Star lose to a little girl yesterday. And I hear”—his hear sounds like ear with the French accent—“last night a big girl beat up ShoMe.”

  The look on Kyle’s face tells me that last part is news to him.

  ORevoir bends down so he’s right in my face. His breath smells like coffee. He talks to me like I’m three. “I understand if you want to give up and go home to your maman.”

  Kyle’s sticking to his plan to ignore the trash talk. Easy for him—no one’s calling him a baby. And Chung-Key, the guy who said he’s here for the team, walks away. I guess he’d rather go watch his other teammate battle. What did I expect?

  I want to look ORevoir in the eye, but I’m pretty sure if I do I’ll start crying. This weekend has turned out way worse than I could ever have imagined. I lost my controller and my confidence, and everything’s turned weird with my best friend. Plus, I’m so tired from Ruby crying all night again. He’s right. What chance do I have against all these pro gamers? I actually do want to go home to my mom. But I can’t.

  Suddenly, I realize: this must be what Cali feels like.

  I can’t stall forever. I press the Start button and do my best. ORevoir plays Goyle like a pro. While I’m playing it safe and defensive, he fills his meter by taunting me. He stands there with his hand on his hip looking at his pretend watch. Then his Lion Roar Super blows me off the screen. Before I’m out of hit-stun, he’s on the attack, with a twelve-hit combo.

  K.O.

  I turn around. Chung-Key is back, and he’s got one of those guys in the yellow STAFF shirts with him.

  “You want your maman now, don’t you, She-Star? Little boys all want their maman when they are scared.”

  “Back off,” Chung-Key says.

  “Now you are playing maman to this little boy who just kicked you out of the tournament?”

  Chung-Key pulls ORevoir by the shoulder and turns him around. “He’s not a little boy. He’s my teammate, JStar. Learn to say it right!”

  For a second, I think Chung-Key is going to hit ORevoir. But Kyle grabs him by the arm and pulls him away.

  “Too bad,” Hugh whispers. “If ORevoir got into a fight, he’d get disqualified for sure.”

  Round two looks a lot like round one, except faster.

  When the K.O. flashes, ORevoir turns to me. “See? I will decimate you.” He runs his finger along his neck again, li
ke cutting someone’s throat.

  I swallow and try not to cry. Why am I letting this guy’s words freak me out? It’s just trash talk, right? I’m used to that.

  Behind him I see Chung-Key pointing at ORevoir and talking angrily to the STAFF guy. All his frowns really emphasize his words. The guy in the STAFF shirt steps forward. “ORevoir, this is a warning,” he says. “You need to back off. You can’t threaten your competitors. If you continue, you’ll be asked to leave and be disqualified.”

  Cali calls out from behind me. “C’mon, Jaden!” I remember how she said she pretends to be Ylva. I need to be Kaigo now.

  I press Start and the FIGHT! sign flashes.

  Of all the players I studied last night, I spent the most time watching ORevoir. He’s good, and he knows it. But he’s also cocky and he loves to play his taunts to get the crowd going.

  I purposely whiff some basic moves to give him a sense of confidence. If he thinks I play like a little boy, I’m going to use that to my advantage. Just as I expected, he plays a taunt, standing there with his arms open wide. Thank you! I go in for the punish—a fourteen-hit combo followed by my Dragon Fire Super ends the round.

  ORevoir may be cocky, but he’s no fool. He stops taunting and Lion Roars and Eagle Claws me to pieces to win the match.

  ORevoir holds out his hand for a fist bump. When I hesitate, he says, “You know I was only messing with you, right? Sorry if I went too far. I don’t mean to scare you, JStar.” He actually pronounces it right.

  “I wasn’t scared,” I say, and meet his fist bump with more force than needed.

  I didn’t win the match, and I’m out of the tournament. Sometimes your best isn’t enough in Cross Ups—just like in real life. At least I got some respect.

  “Now Sage is the last ArcadeStix player,” Devesh says.

  Hugh finishes marking up his paper. “And he’s playing Cali next.”

  Chapter 27

  “You have to admit, this is weird,” I say. We’re sitting in the front row, waiting for Cali’s match against Sage to start.

  “Which part?” Devesh asks. “The part where Cali is about to play her stalker or the part where you’re wearing the same T-shirt as him?”

  “Do you really think Sage is a stalker?”

  “Nah. Jokes. The guy probably has no idea that Cali is freaked out by what he said. He’s trying to be friendly and she’s taking it the wrong way.”

  “Yeah. He’s cool,” Hugh says. “If he doesn’t realize what he’s saying to Cali is scaring her then he’s not a jerk, he’s just dumb.”

  “That’s what I thought, but Cali’s convinced he’s a creep.”

  “So, you and Cali have conflicting hypotheses,” Hugh says.

  “You guys spent too much time at STEM Camp,” Devesh says.

  “But which one of us is right?” I ask.

  “Dude!” Hugh is super excited. “You could do an experiment to test your hypothesis!”

  Devesh snorts. “You want to do an experiment to see if Sage is dumb?”

  “Sort of,” Hugh says.

  “Hey, Sage, what’s the square root of one-forty-four?” Devesh chuckles.

  “I don’t care if he’s good at math,” I say. “I need to figure out if he knows he crossed the line with those messages. I have an idea.”

  I need to talk to Cali fast, before the match starts. I race up onto the stage. Sage and Cali are already set up, waiting for the commentators to announce their match. I need to tell Cali my plan, without Sage knowing. The only thing I can think of is to speak to her in Mandarin. It’s weird. Even though we both speak Mandarin to our moms, I’ve never spoken it to her.

  “Xin Yi.” I use her Chinese name. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but in case you need an advantage . . . you should say—”

  “No coaching allowed. Step off the stage,” the announcer says on his way up the steps.

  I look at Cali, then out to the crowd. “I’m just wishing her good luck,” I say.

  Cali is staring at me. “Say what?” she asks in Mandarin.

  I bend down to give her a kiss on the cheek so I can whisper in her ear. This is not going to help with the rumors. Then I get off the stage as fast as I can.

  “What did you tell her?” the guys ask.

  I wave them off. I want to watch, not talk.

  I’m surprised when Sage selects Kaigo. I didn’t expect him to main the same guy I do. Cali wavers, then selects Ylva, the dire wolf she used to beat me.

  Sage plays Kaigo like a beast. I’m glad I don’t have to go up against him. He sticks to basic combos, obviously baiting her to take risks. But she’s patient.

  She comes at him with a slide attack, her leg outstretched. He goes down and she jumps on him, getting in a seven-kick combo. He grabs her and they tumble along the ground. He breathes fire in her direction, and I’m amazed when she gets out of the way in time.

  She’s keeping up with Sage. And yesterday she beat MrWinDoh and an O player. And she’s doing it all with that little black gamepad. This is a way bigger tournament than my first one. No wonder Devesh won’t shut up about how good she is.

  The first round goes to Sage, but just barely. Cali leans over to him and says something.

  “Thought she was too scared to talk to him,” Devesh says.

  “She’s using my plan,” I say. Then I remember: that’s my teammate she’s using it against.

  And it’s working. The next round Cali is all over Sage. He whiffs his next three attacks. Cali howls to the moon and shoots sparkling yellow beams from her dire wolf’s eyes. She’s right: it really does look cool, almost cooler than the Dragon Fire Super that Sage is using now. But it isn’t enough. Cali only needs one quick cross up. She sinks her canines into his neck and Sage is K.O.

  “Look, she’s talking to him again,” Devesh says.

  “What did you tell her?” Hugh begs. “She’s freaking him out, big time.”

  He’s right. Sage is totally off his game now. Moves that he completed no problem in round one, he can’t finish. Cali doesn’t need to be patient anymore. She goes ham on screen. Uppercut, flying side kick, Wolf Claw Super. On and on it goes. She wins the next three rounds easy, finishing with a Wolf Tail Super that swipes him right off the screen.

  Ylva’s win quote flashes onto the screen:

  STAND UP AND DEFEND YOURSELF!

  Cali makes her way down the stage steps.

  Melanie and Roy emerge from the crowd and swallow her in a hug.

  “You were godlike!” Devesh says when she gets to us. “Or should I say goddesslike?”

  “What did you say to him?” Hugh asks.

  “She told him she’s HermIone,” I say proudly.

  “You what?” Melanie screeches.

  “Not exactly,” Cali says. “I’m not stupid. I told him I know what he’s been writing to HermIone. Then I told him she’s only twelve, and if he doesn’t stop I’m telling the police.”

  “What did he say?” Hugh asks.

  “Not one word.”

  My stomach drops. Cali just proved her own hypothesis. Sage is a creep. He knows what he’s doing is wrong. His actions spoke for him.

  Sage comes off the stage and blows right past us. He doesn’t get far before Kyle and Chung-Key stop him and wave me over.

  I grab Cali’s hand. Devesh and Hugh follow us.

  When we get to the Arcade Stix group, Kyle says, “I know you’re not happy that all three of you are eliminated already. I’m surprised too. I thought for sure we’d have a rep in the finals. But you all made Top 16, so this was still a strong outing for the team.”

  As soon as there’s a pause I say, “Thanks for this opportunity, Kyle, but I quit the team.”

  Chapter 28

  Mouths drop open.

  “What are you talking about?” Kyle sa
ys.

  “I can’t be on a team with him.” I point to Sage. “He just admitted he’s been trolling girls online.”

  Sage shakes his head. “I didn’t know she was twelve.”

  “It doesn’t matter how old she is, man. You’re messed up.” I shake my head.

  Kyle jumps in. “Whoa! Whoa! What are you saying? Sage, are you admitting to creeping girls online?”

  “It’s not just online,” Chung-Key says. “He got punched last night by SaltyPeppa for coming on too strong.”

  “Sage, man,” Kyle says. “You’re the one who’s off the team. We can’t have someone representing us who’s out there harassing people like that.”

  “Are you kidding me? I made it farther than either of these guys today.” Sage points to Chung-Key and me.

  “True. But you didn’t beat this rising star.” Kyle turns to Cali. “Sorry, I only know you as Imperio.”

  “That tag was just for today. My name’s Cali.”

  “Nice to meet you, Cali. I’ve been watching you play today and you’re not just impressive, you’re godlike. I notice you play with a gamepad, like Jaden used to. I’d love to see what happens to your game with our product.” He glances at Sage. “Since we have an opening on our team, I’d like to invite you to join us. You’ll get an ArcadeStix controller and we’ll pay your entrance and travel for tournaments.”

  “You’re serious?” Sage says.

  “Very,” Kyle answers.

  “You’re making a big mistake.” Sage walks off.

  “Don’t worry about him. We need people who represent us well.”

  “I don’t know if I’m going to do any more tournaments—” Cali starts, then her name is called over the speakers for her next match.

  “Go,” Kyle says. “We can talk more later, Cali. Good luck!”

  “You’ve got this!” I call after her as she heads to her station. Then I look at Chung-Key. “You would be okay with that?” I ask. “Being on a team with two kids?”

  “Hell ya!” he says and breaks into a smile. “If they play like you two!” He gives me a fist bump. “But seriously. That was a stand-up move just now. Cali’s a lucky girl.”