''You''re embarrassing!''


    ''We know!''


    ''We can''t stand you!''


    ''We don''t stand you either!


    ''And you especially have no skills!


    ''That''s right!''


    The 656 and the 652 once again exchanged pleasantries through their respective windows, the southern one on the 652 and the western one on the 656.


    ''Hey!'' suddenly there was an angry roar from a completely different direction, namely from the north.


    ''Could you please shut the fuck up? There are people here who are really trying to concentrate on the game itself!''


    ''Who''s that?'' asked Genny in amazement.


    ''That''s the 655! Oh, how pretty! They can talk! That''s Lil Arrow!''


    Lady Evelyne tore open the north window and yelled back, ''Yoo-hoo, 655! How are you? Fancy telling a few inside jokes and swapping funny anecdotes with us?''


    ''Do you think we''re just having fun here all day, just fooling around like you and making embarrassing jokes?'' came Lil Arrow''s indignant reply.


    ''Er, yes, actually. Why are you here if you''re not having fun?''


    ''We don''t really know ourselves! But the game is serious business! We''re all serious players in our faction and we''re not here for fun!''


    ''Ohhhhhh!'' Genny mumbled with wide eyes. ''He''s very salty. I''m afraid it''s my fault. I was quite mean to him.'' She giggled.


    ''So I''m assuming that''s a ''no''? You''re not going to tell us anything funny?'' shouted Lady Evelyne in the direction of the north.


    ''No!'' came back angrily, ''You''re all embarrassing! What you''re doing should be banned in the rules. No politics, no religion, no hate speech. And no attacks on the seriousness of this game. I will submit this rule change amendment through Line immediately!''


    In the north, the window was slammed shut with a clang.


    Genny stared at Lady Evelyne in amazement. ''What are they playing?''


    ''I think they''re playing ''Whoever laughs first loses''. We''re finished, Genny. We''re not going to win this. This event goes to the 655. Even they''re better than us now! Best we send them our unconditional surrender right away.''


    __________________________________________________


    Thunder Boo almost despaired. They had caught him again! The trick with the new nickname ''Boo Thunder'' hadn''t worked. Somehow, he didn''t know exactly why, they had recognised him anyway. The next name change had to come. ''Giest Boo Thunder'' - that was a good name! It would guarantee that they would no longer recognise him, those sneaky bumblebees with their honeypot accounts!


    While he was still renaming himself, his mobile phone buzzed. Someone had sent him a photo. He opened it curiously, saw it and immediately burst out laughing. Lady Evelyne running in the desert, in combat gear and a kitchen apron, with a cake bowl under her arm! It looked incredibly embarrassing. Whoever took these funny photos of the 656 girls! Unfortunately, no one seemed to have managed to take a photo in their bathroom window when they were showering, but in the meantime some funny pictures of them had gone viral and been discussed intensively in faction chat. Thunder Boo giggled as he saved the picture and used it as the background for his phone screen.


    __________________________________________________


    In the clan castle of the 652, the Dude put down the binoculars.


    ''I''m seriously wondering why they''re wearing kitchen aprons over their combat gear over there,'' he said thoughtfully, ''does it have any special meaning?''


    ''I don''t know,'' puzzled mamakoko, ''maybe it''s a special item?''


    ''But I''ve never seen it before. At which event do you get it?''


    Thunder Benexi looked at the Dude suspiciously from the side: ''Do you want to get a kitchen apron too?''


    ''Why not? It seems to offer some kind of advantage, otherwise they wouldn''t wear them all the time. And somehow they do cause us quite a bit of trouble when they do move. And haven''t you noticed how insanely important it was for the lady to save all her aprons from the castle? She nearly burnt herself in the process. You don''t do that unless these items are ultra valuable. And she even wore a kitchen apron over her combat gear in the desert when she rescued that girl and teleported next to RxD''s accounts. A kitchen apron with the police badge from the town hall on it. Our four RxD accounts then fled without a fight. This isn''t happening over nothing!''


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Thunder Benexi snapped his fingers: ''I''ve got it, buffs! They offer special buffs!''


    ''If they offer special buffs, I want them!'' it screeched from under the kitchen table, and Thunder Boo crawled out. ''Probably higher unit HP or crew ATK or something. I want a kitchen apron immediately! Then my T4 will survive in the future!''


    The Dude frowned and looked through his binoculars again. ''They''re all ironed. On edge.''


    ''Probably gives you even more percentage points for the buff.''


    ''I want an ironed kitchen apron immediately!''


    _____________________________________________


    ''Couldn''t you just shut up?'' howled the 655, ''we want to concentrate on the game and you''re ruining everything, you damn intermission clowns!


    ''No!'' it roared back in chorus from the direction of 652 and 656.


    _____________________________________________


    The crowd gathered in the kitchen. Angry Thunder brothers tried to push their way through to Yikesy, who was sitting at the kitchen table filling the shopping basket for an online order.


    ''I want a kitchen apron too!''


    ''I want two!''


    ''I''ll order three!


    ''How many fragments do you need for one? And is that phase 1? How many do you need for phase 2?''


    ''Can you level them up with stars?''


    ''I want four kitchen aprons! But who irons them?''


    ''Yikesy maybe?''


    ''Dream on!''


    ''I''ll take them all!'' shouted Kodaxx from the very back, trying to push his way through, ''I bought all the luxury cars too! And all the babes! I want all the kitchen aprons there are!''


    ''Egoist!'' complained Thunder Yuber, ''Let the others have some too! I want a kitchen apron too!''


    ''Cry!''


    ''They come with frills and without frills,'' Yikesy chimed in from the kitchen table, not to be put off.


    ''I want them with frills AND without frills!'' Kodaxx placed his order.


    ''They come in pink and white.''


    ''I want them in pink AND white. Everything there is for me!''


    ''Not just for you!'' the Thunder Boo cried desperately, ''I want one with frills too, Yikesy! It''s certainly better for the statistics with frills. And is pink or white better for the T4?''


    ''Have you taken leave of your senses?'' suddenly shouted Mink, who had entered the kitchen unnoticed by everyone, ''What are you doing?''


    ''We''re ordering kitchen aprons! For higher unit HP on the combat gear!'' shouted Thunder Boo, "When they''re ironed, there''ll be a few more percentage points of buff!''


    ''Who put that flea in your ear? That''s a rumour at best! I''ve never heard of kitchen aprons increasing combat strength!''


    ''Then why do they always wear kitchen aprons over their combat gear on the 656, hey?''


    ''Maybe because they cook? Ever thought about that?''


    ''No, it''s a special buff! Higher unit HP and crew ATK, one hundred per cent!''


    Mink tried to push his way through to Yikesy.


    ''Guys, be reasonable now! Don''t fall for such a stupid rumour! Besides, it doesn''t make any sense, what''s the point of everyone ordering three kitchen aprons? Do you all want to wear them on top of each other at the same time? That looks stupid!''


    Kodaxx raises his arms angrily to his sides: ''Yeah, right, brother! After all, you wear three builders'' helmets on top of each other in the architect''s set, don''t you? And three wristwatches on the Kingset! That also looks stupid, but it increases efficiency enormously!'' He turned to Yikesy: ''Every type of kitchen apron there is, for me! Four of each! Money doesn''t matter!''


    ''Nooooooo!'' howled Mink in despair.


    ''You just can''t stand the fact that I''m bigger than you! That''s why you won''t let me have a kitchen apron! You''re probably secretly wearing one yourself, in your bedroom or somewhere, where nobody can see it! Cry!''


    ''I was just...''


    ''If you''re going to keep slowing me down, I''m going back to 649! Sir Gorilla will give me a kitchen apron if that''s what I want! That''s for sure!''


    ''Sir Gorilla will punch you in the face if you turn up there again, I swear...''


    ''Cry!''


    The Thunder Dude put the binoculars aside, brooding.


    ''I wonder...'' he began the sentence, but then broke off.


    ''Yeah, what?'' asked Mink, who had given up trying to push his way through to Yikesy and delete the shopping basket for the online order. There was no chance. His people were out of their minds.


    ''I don''t know if I can say this...''


    ''Damn it, brother! Talk now or I''ll kick you out of here!''


    Silence fell in the kitchen.


    Thunder Dude raised his eyebrows mockingly. Then he pointed his thumb in the direction of the 656.


    ''They don''t just wear kitchen aprons over their combat fatigues. They also wear high heels.''


    Now there was no stopping him.


    With the force of a tsunami, all the Thunder brothers leapt towards Yikesy at the same time. The kitchen table fell over with a crash and Yikesy was buried under it, while all the boys jumped on top of each other like they were playing football, forming a huge pile as they shouted their orders.


    ''I - WANT - ALSO - HIGH - HEELS!'' screeched the Thunder Boo, ''For my T4!''


    So Kodaxx jumped to the top of the pile. ''And I''ll take them all! All colours, all heel heights! All fragments, all phases! With all the level-up stars!''


    ______________________________________________________


    ''What are they doing? They order kitchen aprons and high heels?'' Genny was stunned.


    ''Looks like it, yes,'' Lady Evelyne said with amusement, ''our style is trending. We''ve become trendsetters in this world.''


    ''But why???''


    ''They think it''s a special item with extra buffs. Somehow it seems to be a group dynamic process here. If one person here has something, everyone wants it. But don''t ask me why it''s our kitchen aprons and high heels of all things. But it''s no more stupid than any other item. Just look at all the stupid stuff that gives the babes extra buffs.'' Lady Evelyne leant forwards and handed Genny a letter. ''By the way, we''ve received a written complaint against us from 655. Violation of the seriousness of the game.''


    ''They''re taking this very seriously, aren''t they?''


    ''Yes, and they want to ban me from mentioning them in the legends.''


    ''Huh? Are they serious about that too?''


    ''And how. I explained to them that this is a war game. You can''t choose what the other person does to you. He just do it. That''s the way it is.''


    ''They''re losing this one.''


    ''I wouldn''t even say that. They''ve already won this unofficial ''whoever laughs first loses'' event.''


    ''Also true again. And if they really manage to stay serious when the 652 arrive in the endgame with their Godfather sets in Grand, with kitchen aprons on top and high heels on feet - then the 655 with Lil Arrow in the lead really should be declared the winner of GW1.''