“What the heck are you doing?” Val roared, dropping to the ground and letting the missile of fire shoot over his head. The fireball detonated in the shrubbery behind Val, engulfing the nearby trees in scorching flames.

“I…I’m sorry!” stammered xx69KILLER420xx. “I’m out of shields!”

Val had some very choice words to speak to his support, but his thoughts were interrupted by a black robed figure dropping from above. Quickly, Val scanned the man’s gamer tag floating above his head. Lebron6James23. He was the best player on the opposing team, ranked as a B tier player. Furthermore, right next to his gamer tag was a small golden crown, signifying that he was the opposing team’s king.

“Keep the other one off of me!” Val shouted. He glanced down to the bottom right of his field of vision. 37/100 health. Would that be enough?

Without missing a beat, Lebron6James23 rocketed forwards, whipping out two dirks from underneath his black robes. Val pulled the visor of his helmet down and gripped the handle of his sword with both hands. Right as Lebron6James23 came within striking distance, Val snapped the fingers of his left hand.

Timelapse!

For a fraction of a moment, time slowed. Val’s eyes absorbed everything around him – the burning forest, xx69KILLER420xx fleeing from the opposing team’s mage, Lebron6James23 adjusting his grip on his left-hand dirk…

In an instant, time accelerated to normal speed. But in that brief respite, Val had all the information he needed. Val pivoted on his right foot and swung down at Lebron6James23’s left hand side. The dirk, having not been handled with a firm grip, flew out of Lebron6James23’s hand and vanished in the tall grass. Undeterred, Val’s opponent retaliated by thrusting at Val’s torso with the other dirk.

In the middle of the dirk’s path to his chest, Val snapped his fingers. As time slowed, Val’s eyes flickered down to his chest. There!

When the speed of time normalized, Val had already begun taking a small step to the left. Lebron6James23’s dirk smashed into Val’s heavily armored chest, sending a wave of shock ricocheting down Lebron6James23’s arm and causing him to lose his balance.

“This game is over!” Val roared, swinging his sword down with all his might.

Val’s sword smashed into a glowing blue shield, halting his strike.

The support?

Val snapped his fingers, trying to find time to think. In the half second of time that Timelapse bought him, Val only had time to glance around the clearing once. He saw that his support, xx69KILLER420xx had been slain by the opposing mage. There was a fireball two feet away from Val’s back, inching closer and closer. Behind a grove of trees hid the opposing team’s support, just close enough to cast the shield to save Lebron6James23.

It’s just me left, realized Val. …Just like it always is.

The half second of Timelapse expired and the fireball engulfed Val.

-

“You’re fricking useless!” Val shouted. “Why do you even play this game?”

“Bro,” said xx69KILLER420. “Chill out. It’s just a game.”

“I hope you and your whole family dies of cancer!” Val spat. “You’re playing support! You have one job! Keep the king alive!”

“Whatever, dude. I’m reporting you,” mumbled xx69KILLER420, leaving the postgame lobby.

Val sat there in silence for a moment, staring at the dialog box on the screen in front of him.

You have been demoted from B tier to C tier. Best of luck next time!

Val took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself. A moment later, another dialog box popped up.

You have been permanently banned on this account for reports of trolling, verbal abuse, flaming, and unsportsmanlike conduct. Please contact Camelot Games if you have any questions.

Val sat in silence for a moment. Then something in him snapped.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Val roared, tearing the headset off his head. He hurled it against the ground, smashing it into several pieces. Deciding that the damage was not enough, Val stomped on the broken headset with his feet, over and over again until his feet went numb.

Choking with pain, having done more damage to his feet than the headset, Val hobbled to his bed and buried his face in his single pillow.

I hate my life.