Saturday afternoon. No tournaments. No practice. Just Cody and Brody sprawled on the living-room couch, controllers idle.

  Cody sighed. "Wanna play something?"

  Brody stared at the ceiling. "I'm bored."

  Cody sat up. "Bored? We have like 500 games!"

  Brody smirked. "Name one we haven't played to death."

  Cody grinned. "Fortnite?"

  "Million times. Next."

  "Minecraft?"

  "Built a whole city. Next."

  "Valorant?"

  "Every agent. Every map. Next."

  "Rocket League?"

  "Grand Champ. Next."

  "Apex Legends?"

  Brody laughed. "We have 20,000 kills combined. Next."

  Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Cody threw his hands up. "Okay, fine. We've played everything fun."

  He flopped back on the couch. "If only we could make a new fun game..."

  Brody shot upright so fast he almost fell off.

  "Exactly!"

  Cody blinked. "Wait-what?"

  Brody grabbed his shoulders. "Listen up, bro. We make our own game!"

  Cody's jaw dropped. "You're blowing my mind right now."

  They spoke at the same time-classic twin thing.

  Cody: "That-"

  Brody: "is-"

  Cody: "the-"

  Brody: "Best-"

  Cody: "Idea-"

  Brody: "Ever!"

  They fist-bumped so hard the coffee table rattled.

  Then reality hit.

  Cody frowned. "We don't know how to make a game."

  Brody nodded. "Probably needs a ton of computer stuff. Tech. Programming."

  Cody jumped up. "Let's ask the teachers! Ms. Carter knows circuits-she might teach us!"

  They ran to school Monday morning before first bell and knocked on Principal Haythe's door.

  "Mr. Haythe," Cody started, "can we learn more about technology? Like... programming? Game making?"

  The principal leaned back. "You guys already have a Technology class here at school."

  Brody shook his head. "They don't teach gaming. Or coding games."

  Principal Haythe sighed. "I'm sorry, boys. Curriculum is set. No changes for sixth grade."

  They walked home disappointed, kicking stones.

  Cody muttered, "They're gatekeeping fun."

  Brody stopped. "Then we gate-crash."

  Cody looked up. "How?"

  Brody grinned. "We teach ourselves, maybe we should read book and use our PCs."

  Cody's eyes lit. "Books. College books. The ones with real code."

  Brody nodded fast. "Awesome idea."

  That evening they marched into the kitchen.

  Grandma Anne was baking. Grandpa Richard was pretending to read.

  "We need college Computer Science books," Cody said.

  Grandpa lowered his paper. "Why?"

  Brody smiled. "To learn how to make our own computer game."

  Grandma Anne dropped her spoon. "Your parents would've exploded with pride."

  Grandpa chuckled. "Fine. But if you turn into robots, I'm unplugging you."

  The books arrived three days later-thick, intimidating, beautiful.

  Cody and Brody tore them open in the Hub whenever they had nothing fun to do (which was becoming rarer).

  Python syntax flew by. C++ pointers felt like cheat codes. They coded tiny games at night: a text adventure where you roasted Riley, a 2D racer faster than Forza.

  The spark was roaring now.

  And it was only getting bigger.