The loading screen felt like it lasted forever. Ethan's Yasuo—the wandering swordsman with his iconic wind-blade stance—stood in stark contrast to Starfire Academy's safe, meta-perfect composition.
**Starfire Academy:** **Syndra the Dark Sovereign** (Seraphine, mid), **Rek'Sai the Void Burrower** (Azure, jungle), **Sion the Undead Juggernaut** (top), **Jinx the Loose Cannon** (ADC), **Nautilus the Titan of the Depths** (support)
**Mixed Bag:** **Viktor the Machine Herald** (Sophie, mid), Yasuo the Unforgiven (Ethan, jungle), **Ornn the Fire Below the Mountain** (Marcus, top), **Ashe the Frost Archer** (Jake, ADC), **Lulu the Fae Sorceress** (Riley, support)
"Their composition is designed to lock you down," Jake said, analyzing. "Syndra stun, Rek'Sai knockup, Nautilus hook, Sion knockup. If they catch you, you die."
"Then I won't get caught," Ethan said, though his heart was pounding so hard he could hear it.
The gates opened.
The first clear was agony. Yasuo's jungle clear was notoriously terrible—low damage to monsters, no sustain, resource-hungry. Azure on Rek'Sai was already Level 4 when Ethan hit Level 3. The gold difference at five minutes: 600 behind.
The crowd was getting nervous: "His clear is too slow."
"Azure is going to invade and kill him."
"The Yasuo pick is being punished."
At 6:30, Azure did exactly that—burrowing into Ethan's jungle, emerging with a knockup. But Ethan was ready. The moment Rek'Sai appeared, he used **Sweeping Blade** to dash through a nearby jungle monster, then activated his **Wind Wall** to block Rek'Sai's follow-up damage.
He escaped with 100 HP.
"That was close," the casters said. "One mistake and Ethan dies there."
But he hadn't made a mistake. And he'd learned Azure's timing.
At 8:00, Ethan made his first real play. He'd been farming conservatively, building his critical strike chance through items. Now he had enough—his **Steel Tempest** was ready, stacking charges on jungle monsters.
He appeared bot lane where Jake's Ashe had slowed Jinx with **Enchanted Crystal Arrow**. Ethan dashed in with Sweeping Blade—through a minion, through Nautilus, landing on Jinx. His Steel Tempest, fully charged, knocked Jinx airborne.
Then he activated his ultimate: **Last Breath**.
Yasuo teleported to the airborne enemy, suspending them even longer while dealing massive damage. His critical strikes—enhanced by his passive that doubled crit chance—shredded through Jinx's health bar. Riley's Lulu added **Whimsy** and **Help, Pix!** to amplify the damage further.
Jinx died in 2.5 seconds.
"FIRST BLOOD FOR MIXED BAG!" the casters shouted. "The Yasuo is online!"
The crowd erupted: "HE'S MAKING IT WORK!"
"That damage was ABSURD!"
"But he's still so squishy! One mistake!"
At 11:00, Ethan ganked mid. Sophie's Viktor had set up the perfect zone with **Gravity Field**, and when Seraphine tried to escape, Ethan dashed through minions with Sweeping Blade—each dash resetting on different targets, giving him incredible mobility. He knocked Seraphine up with Steel Tempest, ulted with Last Breath, and deleted her before she could react.
Two kills. Zero deaths. Yasuo was scaling.
The gold difference: 1,200 ahead for Mixed Bag.
At 14:30, the first major team fight erupted around dragon. Starfire engaged with everything—Sion's ultimate charging in, Nautilus hooking Jake, Syndra trying to burst Sophie.
It should have been disaster.
But Ethan's Wind Wall negated Jinx's ultimate rocket. His positioning was perfect—weaving between enemies with Sweeping Blade, never staying still, impossible to lock down. When Azure tried to knock him up with Rek'Sai's unburrow, Ethan dashed away at the exact frame, making the ability miss.
Then Ornn's ultimate knocked up three members of Starfire. Ethan dashed in, used Last Breath on all three simultaneously—a perfectly timed multi-person ultimate.
The damage was catastrophic. Combined with Sophie's Viktor laser and Jake's Ashe arrows, Starfire Academy melted.
Triple kill for Ethan. Dragon secured. Gold advantage: 3,500.
The Axiom Netcafe was shaking from the noise. Two hundred people screaming, stomping, losing their minds. Online viewership: 152,000 people.
"THIS IS INSANE!"
"YASUO JUNGLE IS WORKING!"
"ETHAN IS A GENIUS!"
"MIXED BAG IS GOING TO WIN THE CHAMPIONSHIP!"
At 18:00, they secured Baron. At 20:30, they destroyed top and mid inhibitors. The gold lead: 7,000.
Starfire Academy looked broken. Azure had died four times trying to stop Ethan. Seraphine was 0/4/1. Their team coordination was fracturing under pressure.
"This is it," Marcus said over comms, his voice shaking with excitement. "One more fight and we win. We actually win this."
The crowd was chanting: "MIXED BAG! MIXED BAG! MIXED BAG!"
At 23:00, Mixed Bag grouped for the final push. All inhibitors down. Super minions flooding Starfire's base. The Nexus towers were low.
"End it," Riley said. "Clean finish. Don't throw."
They moved as one unit, methodical, careful. Starfire Academy tried to defend but they were too far behind. One by one, they fell—Sion, then Nautilus, then Azure's Rek'Sai.
Only Seraphine and Jinx remained, defending the Nexus.
"WE'RE GOING TO WIN!" Marcus screamed. "WE'RE ACTUALLY—"
Then it happened.
Ethan, aggressive as always, dashed forward to finish Seraphine. But in his excitement, his positioning was off by two steps. Just two steps too far forward.
Seraphine had been baiting, saving her abilities. She unleashed everything at point-blank range—**Unleashed Power**, her ultimate that stunned in an area, followed by **Scatter the Weak** pushing Ethan toward Jinx.
Jinx, with her passive **Get Excited!** already stacked from her dying teammates, had maximum attack speed. She shredded through Ethan's low health pool in under a second.
**AN ENEMY HAS BEEN SLAIN**
"NO!" the crowd gasped.
But it was worse than just Ethan dying. His death gave Jinx's passive a reset, amplifying her damage and speed even more. She turned on Jake's Ashe, who had stepped slightly forward. Another kill.
Two deaths. Both carries.
"STARFIRE IS STILL IN THIS!" the casters shouted.
Riley tried to peel, Marcus tried to engage, Sophie tried to burst—but without their carries, they couldn't finish. Starfire's respawn timers came up one by one. Sion respawned. Then Nautilus. Then Azure.
Mixed Bag had to retreat. All inhibitors were down, but they couldn't end.
The gold lead: 5,000. Still massive, but the momentum had shifted.
"It's okay," Riley said, her voice tight. "We still have Baron buff. We group, we wait for Ethan and Jake to respawn, we end properly."
At 25:00, they tried again. But Starfire Academy was different now—they'd found hope in that single fight, found the crack in Mixed Bag's armor. They defended with everything, burning through Mixed Bag's resources.
Azure made a suicidal play, flashing into the backline to knock up Sophie. She died, but she took Sophie with her—trading one for one.
Another reset for Jinx's passive. Another member down.
The gold lead: 3,000.
At 27:30, both teams were at their limits. Starfire defended their Nexus with everything they had. Mixed Bag tried to break through, but every fight ended in trades. The gold lead kept shrinking: 2,500... 2,000... 1,500.
"They're coming back," the casters said, disbelief creeping into their voices. "Starfire Academy is actually coming back from a 7,000 gold deficit."
The crowd was silent now, the celebration choked off by creeping dread.
At 29:00, Elder Dragon spawned—the most powerful objective in the game. Whoever secured it would likely win.
Both teams grouped around it, circling like wolves. The tension was unbearable. One hundred and fifty-two thousand people watching online. Two hundred people in Axiom holding their breath.
"We need this," Ethan said. "We take Elder, we win. We lose it..."
He didn't finish the sentence.
Starfire engaged first. Sion's ultimate charged in, scattering Mixed Bag's formation. Azure burrowed in, knocking up Marcus. Seraphine landed a perfect Syndra stun on Riley.
The team fight was chaos—abilities flying, health bars dropping, everyone at their absolute limit.
Ethan tried to dash in, tried to find the perfect Last Breath opportunity. He saw it—three members of Starfire low, grouped together, one Steel Tempest away from being knocked up.
He dashed forward with Sweeping Blade, loaded his Steel Tempest, prepared to knock them up and ultimate.
But he'd forgotten one thing.
Nautilus's hook was still available.
The anchor flew through the air, bypassing Jake, bypassing Sophie, finding Ethan mid-dash. **Dredge Line** connected, rooting him in place, pulling him toward Nautilus.
"NO!" Marcus screamed over comms.
Ethan was in the middle of Starfire's entire team. Syndra stunned him. Jinx activated her rocket launcher. Rek'Sai knocked him up. Sion slammed down with his axe.
Yasuo's health bar disappeared in 0.8 seconds.
**AN ENEMY HAS BEEN SLAIN**
The shutdown gold—700 credits for killing a fed carry—flooded into Starfire's team. Jinx's passive activated again, giving her rampage speed and damage.
What followed was a systematic execution. Jake died trying to protect Sophie. Sophie died trying to escape. Marcus died trying to body-block for Riley. Riley died alone, trying desperately to peel and survive.
**ACE - STARFIRE ACADEMY**
The crowd was silent. Stunned. Disbelieving.
Starfire Academy, with all five members alive, turned toward Elder Dragon and secured it. Then, with Elder buff active, they marched straight down mid lane.
Mixed Bag respawned one by one, but they were scattered, disorganized, demoralized. Ethan respawned at 31:00, ran toward his base, tried to defend.
But Elder Dragon buff made Starfire's attacks burn with additional true damage. Their baron-buffed minions crashed into Mixed Bag's base. The Nexus towers fell. The Nexus itself was exposed.
"We can defend," Ethan said, but his voice was hollow. "We can—"
Starfire engaged one final time. Sion charged in, absorbing tower shots. Nautilus hooked Ethan again—he dodged with Sweeping Blade, but Azure was waiting, knocking him up with Rek'Sai's unburrow.
This time, there was no escape.
Ethan died watching his Nexus fall. Watched as Starfire Academy—who had been 7,000 gold behind, who had looked defeated—destroyed the crystal that represented all of Mixed Bag's dreams.
At 32:47, the Nexus exploded.
**DEFEAT**
**STARFIRE ACADEMY - CHAMPIONS**
The Axiom Netcafe was dead silent. Two hundred people frozen in shock. One hundred fifty-two thousand viewers online, chat exploding with disbelief.
Ethan sat there, headphones still on, staring at the DEFEAT screen. His hands were numb. His chest felt hollow.
They'd been so close. So impossibly close.
"I..." Marcus's voice cracked over comms. "I don't... how did we..."
Sophie was crying. Actually crying, her head down on the desk.
Jake had taken off his headset, staring at nothing, his face blank with shock.
Riley sat frozen, tears streaming down her face silently.
Ethan slowly removed his headset. The noise of the cafe rushed in—confused murmuring, shocked conversations, some people still trying to process what they'd witnessed.
The post-game statistics appeared on the projection screen:
**GAME TIME: 32:47**
**LARGEST GOLD LEAD (MIXED BAG): 7,200 at 21:34**
**FINAL RESULT: STARFIRE ACADEMY VICTORY**
**THE COMEBACK: 7,200 GOLD DEFICIT OVERCOME**
The statistics told the story. The greatest comeback in Silvercrest tournament history. The most heartbreaking loss imaginable.
Starfire Academy stood from their station, and this time, there was no arrogance in their celebration. They looked exhausted, shocked by their own victory. Seraphine walked over to Mixed Bag's station.
"That was..." she started, then stopped. "I've never played a game that close. You had us. You completely had us. If you'd just..."
She didn't finish. What was there to say?
Azure, the enemy jungler, approached Ethan. "Your Yasuo was perfect. If you hadn't dashed forward at 23 minutes, we lose. It was one mistake. Just one."
One mistake. That's all it took.
The crowd started applauding—slow at first, then building. It wasn't the celebration they'd wanted to give, but respect for what they'd witnessed. An incredible tournament run. A finals that would be remembered forever. A loss that hurt more than any victory could have felt good.
Diana Rivers approached with the prize—5,000 credits for first place, 2,000 for second place. She handed the first place trophy to Seraphine, then turned to Mixed Bag with the second place trophy.
"You have nothing to be ashamed of," Diana said quietly, handing it to Riley. "Nothing. What you did tonight... people will talk about this tournament for years."
But second place felt like ashes.
The crowd started chanting, trying to lift their spirits: "MIXED BAG! MIXED BAG! MIXED BAG!"
But it felt hollow. Participation trophy. Consolation prize. Not the championship.
Ethan stood on shaky legs. His teammates were devastated—Marcus had his head in his hands, Jake was staring at the floor, Sophie couldn't stop crying, Riley was trying to hold it together and failing.
"I'm sorry," Ethan said, his voice rough. "That death at 23 minutes... that was my fault. I threw. I—"
"Don't," Riley said, her voice breaking. "Don't you dare take all the blame. We all made mistakes. I missed peel. Jake positioned wrong. Marcus engaged too early. It wasn't just you."
But it was. Ethan knew it. That one dash forward. That one moment of overconfidence. It had cost them everything.
His phone buzzed incessantly—messages flooding in. He couldn't look at them. Couldn't face the sympathy, the "good try," the "you almost had it."
Almost didn't matter.
The cafe started clearing out slowly. Some people approached to offer consolation, to say they'd played well, to express sympathy. Each word felt like a knife.
Claire appeared from the crowd. She didn't say anything, just looked at him with those sharp, understanding eyes. Finally, she spoke: "That was the most incredible game of League I've ever watched. And the most heartbreaking."
"We lost," Ethan said flatly.
"You were amazing," Claire insisted. "A loss like that—coming that close, playing that well—is worth more than a hundred easy victories. You proved everything you needed to prove."
"We proved we can't close out games when it matters."
Claire frowned. "You proved that a team of players everyone said didn't belong made it to finals and nearly won against the region's best team. You proved that skill transcends gender. You proved that you belong."
But Ethan couldn't hear it. All he could hear was the sound of his Nexus exploding.
Vicky appeared—actually appeared in person, still in her Valkyrie Esports jacket. She must have driven over the moment the game ended. She looked at Ethan, and for the first time since he'd arrived in this world, he saw something in her eyes that wasn't skepticism or protective concern.
Pride. And heartbreak for him.
"Little brother," she said softly. "That was..."
"A loss," Ethan finished.
"That was incredible," Vicky corrected. "I watched every game. The Sylas in game one? The Yasuo in game three? Do you understand how insane that was? Pro players don't make those picks in finals. You did. And you almost won."
"Almost."
Vicky grabbed his shoulders. "Listen to me. I've been in this scene for years. I've seen hundreds of players come and go. What you did tonight—with two days of serious practice, with a team that just met, against one of the best teams in the region—that was legendary. Yes, you lost. But you lost fighting."
Ethan's eyes burned. He'd been holding it together, but Vicky's words cracked something open.
"We were so close," he said, his voice breaking. "We had them. Seven thousand gold ahead. We just had to not throw and we—"
"And you learned what it takes to win at the highest level," Vicky interrupted. "Closing out games is the hardest skill in competitive play. You learned that tonight. Painfully. But you learned."
The tears came then. Ethan couldn't stop them. All the pressure, all the adrenaline, all the hope and excitement and crushing disappointment—it all broke through at once.
Marcus appeared at his side, then Riley, then Jake and Sophie. They stood together, a team forged in one night, bonded by shared triumph and shared heartbreak.
"We'll run it back," Marcus said, though his voice was raw. "Next tournament. We practice, we improve, we come back."
"You really want to?" Jake asked quietly.
"Hell yes," Marcus said fiercely. "We came in second in our first tournament together. Imagine what we can do with actual practice time."
Riley nodded. "He's right. This isn't the end. This is the beginning."
Sophie, who rarely spoke, added softly: "I want to run it back. I want to win next time."
They all looked at Ethan. Waiting.
He wiped his eyes, looked at his team—these people who'd trusted him, who'd followed his insane champion picks, who'd believed when no one else did.
"Yeah," he said finally. "Yeah, we run it back. We get better. And next time, we close it out."
They put their hands together, all five of them.
"Mixed Bag," Riley said.
"Worst team name ever," Jake added.
"But ours," Marcus finished.
They held the moment, then broke apart. The cafe was nearly empty now, just cleaning crew and a few lingering fans.
Diana approached one final time. "Before you go, I should mention—three different teams have contacted me asking about your players. Major organizations. They watched tonight and they want to talk."
"About all of us?" Riley asked.
"About all of you," Diana confirmed. "But especially..." She looked at Ethan. "Especially you. Your mechanical skill, your champion pool, your creativity—that doesn't come around often. And you're male, which makes you... unique. Controversial. Marketable."
"I'm not interested in being a token," Ethan said.
"You won't be," Diana replied. "You're good enough to stand on skill alone. The gender thing just makes you more visible. Use it or don't—that's your choice. But the opportunities are there."
She handed Riley a business card. "My personal number. When you're ready to talk about the future, call me. All of you."
She left, and suddenly the cafe felt very empty.
"We should go home," Riley said. "Sleep. Process. Figure out what comes next tomorrow."
They gathered their things, the second-place trophy awkwardly large, the 2,000 credit prize money somehow feeling both significant and meaningless.
As they walked toward the exit, Ethan looked back one more time at the projection screens, now dark and silent. Hours ago, he'd been nobody—just another player hoping for a chance.
Now he was the guy who almost won. The male player who proved he belonged but couldn't close it out. The Yasuo who threw at the worst possible moment.
He didn't know which identity hurt more.
Outside, the night air was cold. Silvercrest City's lights painted everything in neon colors. Somewhere, 152,000 people were discussing what they'd witnessed. Clips were being shared. Analysis was being written. The tournament was becoming legend.
But all Ethan felt was empty.
His phone buzzed. A message from Claire: *"Falling short of victory doesn't mean you fell short of greatness. Remember that. -C"*
Another from Vicky: *"Proud of you, little brother. Come by the house tomorrow. We should talk. -V"*
And one from an unknown number: *"Second place in your first real tournament. Most players never get that far. The question is: what do you do next? -Coach Diana"*
What did he do next?
Ethan looked at his team—exhausted, disappointed, but still standing. Still together.
"Tomorrow," he said. "We figure out tomorrow. Tonight, we just... survive tonight."
They nodded, understanding completely.
Mixed Bag dispersed into the night, second-place trophy in hand, dreams bruised but not broken.
The first chapter of their story had ended in heartbreak.
But the story itself was far from over.