When the Cat Met the Wolf

28. Of Tournaments & Discoveries

"What's going on?" asked Marinette, who had just arrived to the school. The students were currently watching Max and Adrien playing a video game called Ultimate Mecha Strike III.

"Tryouts for the Paris's Ultimate Mecha Strike III tournament" replied Thiago "It's the newest game and the best one so far" he had played all the other games of the series, but this one was his favourite out of all of them.

"School sends the two students that get the highest scores" added Arianne.

"Actually" Kim spoke up, resting his elbow in Marinette's shoulder "The tryouts are for a partner to team up with Max in the tournament"

"Why Max?" questioned Marinette curiously.

"'Cause he's unbeatable!" replied Kim, and Thiago couldn't help but roll his eyes a bit.

"No one's unbeatable" he replied "No one has tried to beat him yet, that's what's going on"

"You think you can get more APM than him?" challenged Kim. APM stood for action per minute.

Thiago couldn't help but roll his eyes again.

"Wanna bet?" he said back. Thiago was all in for a challenge.

"Are you for real?" questioned Kim "You don't stand a chance"

"Watch me" challenged Thiago, just as Adrien won the 1st place in the boards, and Max went to second place. It seemed as if Max and Adrien would represent the school, but Thiago spoke up "I wanna try" he said, and the room went silent, as everyone stared at him. They all knew that Thiago was a great gamer.

"Sure thing" nodded Max. It would be great to play against one of the best gamers at the school. Thiago grinned. Adrien handed him the controller, and they both took their places "You already know how this works"

"Obviously. I've been playing these games my whole life, Max" he replied as-a-matter-of-fact.

"Let's see if that's enough to beat me" said the other guy, and both guys shook hands, before starting to play. Thiago chose a tiger as his avatar.

Not even five minutes in, Thiago crushed Max.

"He actually beat him!" exclaimed Alya surprised, much to the white haired's satisfaction.

"Beat him?" questioned Arianne with a huge smile, proud of her friend "He pulverised him! That's my brother!"

"What do you have to say now, Kim?" questioned Thiago with a smirk, looking at the very surprised boy while everyone else cheered for him.

"I accept this defeat" said Max, and Thiago noticed his visible sad tone. He suddenly remembered that Max had been preparing for the tournament all year, and he had taken that away from him in just a few minutes, all because he felt the need of proving himself. He now felt very bad "And relinquish my position in the tournament. Congratulations, Thiago and Adrien" he stood up to leave.

"Wait, Max!" called Thiago, sticking his hand out towards the boy "I didn't mean to—"

"Look, I'm fine" replied Max, but Thiago knew that he was lying "I lost fair and square, but if you don't mind, I'd like a little solitude" he walked away from the room, and Thiago felt that he was the worst person in the world.

"So!" the principal spoke up, filling the silence that Max had left behind "Thiago Reyes and Adrien Agreste will represent the high school at the Paris' Ultimate Mecha Strike III tournament. Good luck to both of you"

"I come over to your house for practice, then?" asked Adrien, looking at Thiago, who was still thinking about what he did to Max with guilt.

"Yeah, I guess..." he replied disheartened.