The sun sets on a dreary Thursday night in Berlin. Down the street inside the Mercedes Benz arena the atmosphere is chilly, not because Starladder forgot to pay their electricity bill but because of the wretched series of events unfolding inside it’s barren walls.

The stage seems set, full of flashing lights and guitar intros. The giant colourful screens enough to fool kids like Zywoo into boasting that they are high on LSD. The crowd roars to cheer on their favorite team like a caged lion and even sparing a respectable clap for the neutrals. The casters electric as ever, the analysts spitting out analysis at light speed compared to Yanko, Sean Gares looking handsome as ever and even Twitch chat had somehow come together for once not to spam for drops but for this beautiful game of Counterstrike.

On stage though the mood was quite the opposite. A grisly shadow encompasses the main star of the show. Caught in a predicament which would destroy mere mortals both mentally and physically, he fights on without so much a word through this torment, leading his ex-friends valiantly into the arena. This Mercedes building had its own heartbroken and scammazed Finn inside and for once it was not Valtteri Bottas.

For the Finnish dream team Enceladus’s Augurs despite going through their own 7 seasons of game of thrones had somehow managed to have a better ending even though they did more backstabbing than Cersei. They had been dragged to the quarter finals by none other than the Finn they had outcast forever.

His name was Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen, it always had been Aleksib and it was him once again, carrying ‘his’ team deep into the legends stage against all odds. After being ejected by this squad of mercenaries he put together, the same soldiers he led into battle time after time victoriously, alas how they ached to dethrone him from the very empire he had built up from the ashes of the dead Finnish scene. Yet still, Aleksi goes on, yet still he fights..

Aleksib anchors the B-site, accompanied only by the depressing thoughts running circles in his head when he is interrupted by stampeding kangaroos. He hides because his 300iq predicts that Aussies don’t check their corners. They stroll onto the bombsite uncontested assuming its clear. Aleksi comes out from the camouflage like a tiger stalking its prey. He moves his mouse which feels heavier to carry than the weight S1mple feels at Na’Vi. He manages to put his crossair on the head of jkaem… suddenly nothing. He wants to shoot but his finger cannot pull the trigger. It is not because he uses a Razer branded mouse which had gone through its life expectancy of 500 clicks but instead because he saw his very self in the player he sought to eliminate. Once the glory boy of Faze clan, now thrown into the endless void of AUCS, Aleksi's crossair on jkaem's head was all but a reflection. Instead Aleksi drags his crossair onto Gratisfaction. It feels like he's dragging a brick on his 3$ shitty ENCE branded mousepad when suddenly a mysterious force overcomes him, its as if someone is clicking for him. He starts tapping heads to destroy 3 players right where they stood instantly. A sigh escapes his mouth as he whispers to himself, “it’s what Frankie would have wanted”. The round is won and the vultures he once called his team mates swoop in to pick the scraps from the snow tiger’s hunt.

Retaking A-site, he joins Allu to double stack an off angle to surprise Renapause. A missed flash by AZR catches both off guard and they turn too late to dodge it. As he turns his back on Allu, Aleksi feels a sharp pain in his back, this time it is not Allu being excited to see him. As the searing pain rises going back and forth his spine he realizes it is from the knife Allu stabbed him in the back with. His once dear friend who had been stabbed in the back by every region of Counter Strike had taken that very knife and shoved it into the sacral region of Aleksi’s toned bosom and twisted it for good measure. Aleksi did not say a word, he was used to the pain by now. Carry potter peeked into them neutralizing Allu, Aleksi gets 2 kills and wins the round. He instinctively reaches for a high five before realizing the filth his hand was going to touch so he cancels the high five melee range. Yet still, Aleksi goes on, yet still he fights..

Soon after the tide turns, the Australians start getting the upper hand. Using every tactic in his illustrious one and a half page strat book which took years to compile, Aleksi ‘Allu’ Jalli still cannot break into either bomb site against the Aussie's resilient defense. With each passing round the heads of Enceladus Augurs’ players hang further in despair and discontent. They lack communication, they lack ideas but most of all they lack a real leader. Reluctantly Sami “xseveN” Laasanen looks to his left like a teary eyed puppy begging without words to the only man he had ever followed without hesitation into battle, that man none other than Aleksi ‘Aleksib’ Virolainen. Everything that Aleksib may be, he was not a fuckboi like /r/globaloffensive claimed he was. He takes command, he clears his throat and says the magic words with a voice so deep, so confident, that it would throw shades of doubt on his subsequent departure from this soon to be dead team. The 5 words he used made Allu shiver in his seat. Those 5 words made sure Ence were ready to go to war and fight till death, for their battle-scarred leader had yelled his masterclass of a battlecry, “go B then go A”.

Finally the match reaches its inevitable eventual conclusion. For Aleksi’s father was right all those years ago when he said, “son, you will never be able to carry absolute garbo of a team especially running defaults”. The players exchange customaries. The Australians made sure to use hand sanitizer after every handshake with the Encaladus players until it was Aleksi’s turn. They gathered around him and shook his handle multiple times, showing their absolute respect and admiration of the Finnish ex-general of war. Aleksi half smirks, he cannot even remember the last time he smiled, as if a burden had been lifted from his shoulders, perhaps it was the weight of dropping and saving Allu's avp every round.

Aleksib makes his way into the players’ lounge strolling confidently past his ex-team mates gathered together like hyenas. He walks with vigor and valor. He no longer feels indebted to them but the opposite. He knows he is too good for them. Aerial tries to say something to him but sergej pokes him with an elbow to stop him. His pokes were perhaps the most effective weapon he had as a player due to his skeletal like physique both in and out of game. Aleksib continues on without breaking his stride for he knows there is someone far more important waiting for him.

His pace fastens up as he enters into the talent lounge. There is someone waiting desperately for him with every passing second. He enters the room and for the first time in weeks he sees that very person standing across the room. Frankie’s microphone drops from her hand interrupting her interview for dextero on what deodorant some random TIER 2 pro uses. Her beautiful dark curly hair flowing with the breeze of the rotating fan and a smile, a smile so bright, perhaps the only thing bright enough to shine on this bleak day. It is why Aleksi always regarded Frankie with great respect as his future ex-wife. She moved towards him, wanting to embrace him in his moment of need but suddenly her dimples receded back into her face one by one as she was left flabbergasted. Aleksi ‘Aleksibae’ Virolainen walked past her like she was a mere ghost. She turned around befuddled and sees that waiting for Aleksib was someone else with even more passion than she could ever have. Frankie stumbled to pick the mic up as Aleksi moved closer to who he came to see in the first place.. Standing in his path was Nadeshot, arms wide open for a warm embrace. This time to start a new chapter in Aleksib's life. This time to take over not just the Finnish scene, but the world of counterstrike as a whole with their “fuck you” buyout money. For Enceladus was dead. It was time for the Aleksib era.