author's note: this one is entirely fictional. 90% sure that loco isn't actually this nice lmao. but he probably would be if he liked the girl enough. also 90% sure that some of this may happen at the end of this season. dedicated to lc. title from just the way i'm not by all time low.

a new day

Everything changed after Worlds.

TSM didn’t make it out of Groups, being crushed by their opponents from China and Korea. They went home after just the first round of games. It was disheartening, especially to Locodoco, who was being targeted online for their poor pick-ban phases. Many people began to blame him for TSM’s losses.

And then, TSM began to change.

WildTurtle left TSM and joined a new team in the Challenger series, stating that he wanted to see if he could help bring a team from CS to LCS. He blamed himself for a lot of their losses in Worlds and had been close to retiring because of it, but pulled himself back out and returned to the pro scene.

Dyrus actually had retired and taken up a coaching position on the TSM staff. He’d chosen Seraph from Team Dragon Knights as his replacement. He worked with Seraph to bring the Korean player up to the standards that he held for himself and the rest of TSM.

The three remaining players, Bjergsen, Santorin, and Lustboy debated on also buying out the contract of another player. But Regi had other ideas.

“We’re going to add Loco to the starting roster. He’s going to be our AD carry,” he declared one day.

Loco nearly dropped his fork from shock. He hadn’t played on a team in almost two years, not since he left Najin White Shield and joined TSM as the coach. Despite the fact that he was still playing in soloq, he felt as if he wasn’t as good as he used to be, and he certainly wasn’t as good as WildTurtle had been. He was just not prepared to reenter the competitive scene.

As he tried to spew out all of these complaints, too used to his place as the coach, Regi would hear none of it. “Relax, Loco. You’ll be fine. We’re just going to try you out in IEM San Jose, and we’re going to see what happens from there.” Loco opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out.

So instead, he closed his mouth and nodded wordlessly.

IEM San Jose 2015

Loco sat at his computer, watching his screen nervously. He locked in Vayne, which earned him screams from the crowd of adoring TSM fans. He eyed them, knowing that they were going to judge him, compare him to WildTurtle, and rip him apart for his play if he made even one mistake, however slight that mistake was. But he was prepared, at least as best he could.

As soon as he loaded into Summoner’s Rift, he found that playing League in a competitive setting was like riding a bike. He remembered what he had to do, and he did it. He did it well, becoming a dangerous hyper carry by the late game.

He sliced through his opponents, and won them the first game, earning TSM a roar of approval.

And from there, it was golden.

the new kids

WildTurtle’s new team was the former LCS team, Winterfox. The team had come under new management after CloudTemplar bought the team, and had picked up Turtle after a debate between the management and the player. Avalon was still on the team, but other than that, the roster was all new talent to the NA scene.

After Renegades qualified to LCS, more teams became open about picking up female players and putting them on the starting lineup, and Winterfox quickly became one of those teams.

Of the three open spots, only one of them was taken by a male, as Winterfox had managed to pick up Peanut, formerly of Najin, as their jungler. The other two were a pair of females from solo queue. The mid laner was a girl who went by the name of Ruby, and the support was a girl named Queen.

Turtle asked TSM to scrim with his team. “Please,” he begged over the phone. “Most of them are really inexperienced, and I want them to get some experience before we go up against TDK this week.”

For some insane reason, maybe it was sentiment, Regi agreed.

When the match started, it seemed like it was most likely to go in TSM’s favor. Their pick-ban phase was good, and everyone was feeling like they were in high spirits. After all, they’d just come off the back of a dominating victory at IEM.

Then, ten minutes into the game, things went very, very wrong.

Loco and Lustboy were together, on Kalista and Janna, against Turtle and Queen, who were on Jinx and Thresh. Somehow, they were losing lane, getting pushed back into their turret.

“This ,” Loco complained. “I can’t get anything from under turret, and I don’t have my ult to initiate. Santorin, can you please, please, come gank bot?”

The Dane snickered at his former coach’s complaining. “Yeah, just let me get my red, then I’ll come down.” As he, on Gragas, entered the camp where his red buff should have been, he walked straight into Avalon on Gnar, Peanut on Nidalee, and Ruby on Ahri.

“!”

Loco blinked, and then, the words First Blood were written on the screen.

He looked to Santorin, who was staring blankly at his screen. “They took my red. Be really careful, guys, they’re probably coming for either mid or bot,” he warned as he waited for his death timer to finish so he could return to his game.

“Loco, pay attention!” Lustboy ordered. “We’re dying here!”

Loco focused back onto the game, only to find himself being engaged on by a Thresh, who, while he was distracted, had landed a hook on him. Cursing under his breath, he pressed keys frantically, hitting Thresh for as much damage as he could. And then he couldn’t move.

And then his screen was dark.

He stared.

“What the .”

Needless to say, TSM won the match, but it was a long, hard battle. Turtle, by the end, had been massively fed, thanks to a ton of well-timed Thresh hooks and well-placed Thresh boxes.

Basically, the Thresh made his life hell.

As they were packing up their gear, and Regi thanked CloudTemplar, and the two exchanged words and pleasantries. Turtle and Lustboy spoke quietly for a little, Lustboy sending his former AD Carry back to his new team with a pat on the back.  Loco snuck a glance over at the team Turtle returned to.

He locked eyes with the support, Queen, who was talking with their hyper mid laner. Ruby was bouncing up and down as he and Queen met eyes. She grinned, giving him a nod, and returned to her friend who was excitedly telling her about something, although all Loco heard was “Faker.”

Loco watched as they left, their Winterfox bags on their shoulders. He stared after them, watching as Peanut and Ruby chatted happily in Korean with their owner and coach, Avalon sticking his two cents in once or twice, as Turtle and Queen spoke in softer voices, Queen scrolling through her phone as they talked. He narrowed his eyes.

“What’s up, Loco?” Bjerg a